President Joe Biden on Thursday criticized newly elected President Donald Trump’s announcement that he will impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, saying the comments were “counterproductive.”
“I hope he reconsiders it, and I think it’s a counterproductive thing to do,” Biden said, responding to a reporter’s question about his response to Trump’s announcement.
“The last thing we need to do is ruin those relationships,” he added. Biden’s comments came during his Thanksgiving Day visit to a fire station in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
Trump said in a message to Truth Social on Monday that one of his first executive orders would be to hit Mexico and Canada with an across-the-board tariff of 25%. According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, Mexico and Canada are the second and third largest suppliers of goods to the US. The US imports the most goods from China.
“This tariff will remain in effect until drugs, especially Fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country!” Trump said in the post.
The president-elect’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Biden’s comments.
During his campaign, Trump regularly promised to impose more tariffs, especially on China. However, some economists have criticized the possibility of high tariffs, arguing that the costs would ultimately be passed on to consumers.
Trump said in a message to Truth Social on Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, saying: “She has agreed to stop migration through Mexico and into the United States, effectively closing our southern border is closed.”
But in Sheinbaum’s account of the conversation, she said she noted that Mexico’s position is “not to close the borders.”
“In our conversation with President Trump, I explained to him the comprehensive strategy that Mexico has adopted to address the migration phenomenon, while respecting human rights,” she said in Spanish on X. “We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close the borders, but to build bridges between government and people.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a post to X on Wednesday that he had spoken to his country’s prime ministers about trade with the US.
“Our focus: Canadian jobs, securing the border and building on our strong partnership with the United States,” he said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
