US President Donald Trump said Monday that 25 percent taxes on imports from Mexico and Canada would start Tuesday, sparking renewed fears of a North American trade war that already showed signs of pushing up inflation and hindering growth.

“Tomorrow — tariffs 25% on Canada and 25% on Mexico. And that’ll start,” Trump told reporters in the Roosevelt Room.

“They’re going to have to have a tariff,” he said, adding that there was “no room left” to delay.

Trump has said the tariffs are to force the two US neighbors to step up their fight against fentanyl trafficking and stop illegal immigration. But Trump has also indicated that he wants to even the trade imbalance with both countries as well and push more factories to relocate in the United States.

His comments quickly rattled the US stock market, with the Dow Jones down 1.58%, the S&P 500 down 1.78% and the Nasdaq down 2.47% on the day.

CEOs and economists say the action, covering more than $900 billion worth of annual US imports from its southern and northern neighbors would deal a serious setback to the highly integrated North American economy.

It’s a sign of the political and economic risks that Trump........

© The Times of Israel