Mounting trade wars between the United States and its largest economic partners deepened Tuesday as huge U.S. tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China kicked in, sparking swift retaliation from Beijing and Ottawa.
Global markets fell sharply in response, with the S&P 500 -- a major Wall Street index -- extending recent losses and erasing all of its gains since President Donald Trump's U.S. election victory in November.
Trump had announced -- and then paused -- blanket 25% tariffs on imports from major trading partners Canada and Mexico in February, accusing them of failing to stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
He pushed ahead with them Tuesday, citing a lack of progress on both fronts.
The sweeping duties will hit over $918 billion in U.S. imports from both countries, affecting everything from avocados to the lumber crucial for building U.S. homes, and hampering supply chains for key sectors like automobiles.
Canada swiftly responded with retaliatory tariffs of 25%, while Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would lay out her country's response to the measures on Sunday.
Trump also inked an order Monday to increase a previously imposed 10% tariff on China to 20% -- piling atop existing levies on various Chinese goods.
Beijing condemned the "unilateral imposition of tariffs by the U.S." and said it would impose 10 and 15% levies on a range of agricultural imports from the United States.
Experts have warned the higher import costs could push up prices for consumers, complicating efforts to bring down inflation.
That includes at grocery stores -- Mexico supplied 63% of U.S. vegetable imports and nearly half of U.S. fruit and nut imports in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Housing costs could also be hit. More than 70% of imports of two key materials homebuilders need -- softwood lumber and gypsum -- come from Canada and Mexico, said the National Association of Home Builders.
Truck drivers at the Otay Mesa border crossing in Mexico told AFP they were already feeling the impact as they waited to cross into the United States early Tuesday.
Work was drying up because many companies in the Mexican border city of Tijuana export Chinese goods, said driver Angel Cervantes.
Fight to 'the bitter end'
Ottawa's retaliatory 25% tariffs on $30 billion of goods went into effect just after midnight Tuesday.
"Canada will not let this unjustified decision go unanswered," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, adding that they would be extended to duties on more than $150 billion of Canadian goods within weeks.
China's tariffs will come into effect next week and will impact tens of billions of dollars in imports, from U.S. soybeans to chickens.
China also suspended all imports of U.S. lumber and halted soybean shipments from three American exporters.
Beijing's foreign ministry vowed to fight a U.S. trade war to the "bitter end."
European Union trade spokesman Olof Gill warned the tariffs on Canada and Mexico threatened transatlantic "economic stability" and risked disrupting global trade, urging Washington to reverse course.
Trump seeks leverage
Analysts say Trump's tariffs over drugs like fentanyl are a means to tackle socio-economic problems -- while providing legal justifications to move quickly -- and Washington is also seeking leverage and to rebalance trade ties.
But using emergency economic powers to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China is a novel move.
The Tax Foundation estimates that before accounting for foreign retaliation, tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China this time would each cut U.S. economic output by 0.1%.
"We could easily reach the highest effective tariff rate since 1936 by the beginning of 2026," KPMG Chief Economist Diane Swonk warned ahead of the tariffs going into effect.
Both consumers and manufacturers stand to bear the costs of additional tariffs, which could diminish demand and trigger layoffs as businesses try to keep costs under control, she told AFP.
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