With a deadline approaching, the Treasury chief calls on Canada and Mexico to match US penalties on China

Canada was urged by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday to follow Mexico in matching U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods in an effort to spare the two U.S. neighbors from paying 25% of U.S. duties that were due on Tuesday due to fentanyl trafficking.

Officials from Canada and Mexico have spread out throughout Washington in an effort to demonstrate to President Donald Trump’s administration that they are making headway in safeguarding their U.S. borders in order to stop the lethal opioid’s flow.

Mexico has offered to equal U.S. duties targeted at China, Bessent said in an interview with Bloomberg Television, though he did not say to what extent. After imposing a 10% charge on all Chinese imports on February 4, Trump announced on Thursday that he will double the duty, opening a new tab to 20% starting on Tuesday.

“I think it would be a nice gesture if the Canadians did it also – so in a way, we could have fortress North America from the flood of Chinese imports that’s coming out of the most unbalanced economy in the history of modern times,” said Bessent.

Trump’s unilateral tariff increases would seriously breach World Trade Organization regulations and harm Chinese and American interests, according to China’s embassy in Washington.

“The best way to deal with China is not by coercion, pressure, or threats. Rather, respect for one another is the fundamental requirement,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Reuters in a statement.

Attempts to reach the Canadian and Mexican governments for comment on Bessent’s comments were not immediately answered.

EXTRA MEETINGS

After spending four days in Washington, Canadian Public Safety Minister David McGuinty stated that he was still in contact with the Trump administration and that Canada was taking immediate action to protect its borders.

“We’ve made some very serious adjustments, investments, and improvements on the border, and we spent the entire week for four days of meetings, communicating those results, communicating those improvements to our counterparts here in Washington,” McGuinty revealed to reporters following his meeting with border czar Tom Homan and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

A “cordial working meeting” was held between Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, she said. Ebrard stated that the United States and Mexico “have a great future working together” in a post on X, opens a new tab, but he provided no information regarding the talks regarding the U.S. tariff.

The planned taxes on more than $900 billion in yearly imports from Canada and Mexico were justified by Trump, who pointed to the lack of success in lowering fentanyl overdose deaths in the United States.

Drug suspects are expelled

The greatest mass extradition of alleged drug cartel members in a decade was carried out by Mexico on Thursday, including 28 additional suspects and a 1980s mob boss who was imprisoned for decades for the death of a U.S. drug enforcement agent.

On Friday, 72-year-old Rafael Caro Quintero entered a not guilty plea in federal court in New York to allegations of drug trafficking in the United States that may lead to his execution. One of the other suspects extradited was a younger commander who was charged with smuggling fentanyl into the United States.

Deputy Economy Minister Vidal Llerenas of Mexico stated Thursday that in order to decrease low-value exports from China, Mexico could use further trade policies in addition to the recent tariffs it placed on specific imports.

The “de minimis” duty-free exemption for goods under $800, which has let fentanyl and its precursor compounds to enter the country unscreened through U.S. airports and border crossings, was suspended by the U.S. earlier this month.

However, as parcels began to pile up, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection department decided to temporarily halt the suspension until it could implement efficient screening procedures.

In 2023, synthetic opioids—primarily fentanyl—caused 72,776 deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

China’s annual parliamentary meetings begin on Wednesday, coinciding with the tariff deadline on Tuesday. This is a major event on Beijing’s political calendar, as leaders are anticipated to reveal their top economic priorities for 2025.

Beijing has less than a week to release countermeasures in response to Trump’s declaration. The Trump administration has been adopting a more assertive posture toward its strategic adversary, even if it backed down from the threat of 60% tariffs when he took office on January 20.