A barrage of condemnation has rained down on United States President Donald Trump following his decision to impose stiff tariffs on imports from neighbouring countries, Mexico and Canada, as well as its largest supplier of goods, China.Sunday saw no pause in the expression of criticism on the US leader, a day after he signed three separate executive orders, imposing 25 percent on goods from Mexico and Canada, and 10 percent on all imports from China.
Trump has justified his sweeping decision, citing a national emergency of fentanyl and “illegal” immigration pouring into the world’s largest economy by gross domestic product (GDP).
Reactions from Mexico, Canada and China were the most immediate, as well as a raft of other nations, groups and organisations:
Mexico
President Claudia Sheinbaum ordered retaliatory tariffs against Trump’s decision. In a lengthy post on X, she said her government sought dialogue rather than confrontation with its top trade partner to the north, but that Mexico had been forced to respond in kind. Advertisement
“I’ve instructed my economy minister to implement the Plan B we’ve been working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico’s interests,” Sheinbaum posted, without specifying what US goods her government will target.
Sheinbaum also rejected as “slander” the White House’s allegation that drug cartels have an alliance with the Mexican government, a point Trump’s administration used to justify the tariffs.
Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on X that Trump’s tariffs were a “flagrant violation” of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
“It is one of the heaviest attacks Mexico has received in its independent history. It is not admissible, it cannot be accepted, a …