Donald Trump’s tariff threats signal new era of global trade disruption

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free

Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world

Donald Trump has ushered in an era of disruption for the global economy, threatening new tariffs against US allies and moving to dismantle Joe Biden’s domestic and foreign agenda just hours after his return to the White House.

In wide-ranging comments to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday night, Trump threatened to force tariffs of up to 25 per cent on imports from Canada and Mexico as early as February 1, hitting the countries’ currencies and pushing US equity futures lower.

The newly minted 47th US president also threatened to apply levies on Chinese imports of up to 100 per cent if Beijing failed to agree on a deal to sell at least 50 per cent of the TikTok app to a US company, and tariffs on EU products unless they bought more American oil.

The comments and jolt to global markets offered another reminder of Trump’s willingness to upend the world order and engage in high-stakes coercive negotiations to impose America’s will on key trading partners.

The Oval Office remarks came just hours after Trump used his inaugural address to pledge an end to American “decline” and the onset of a new “golden age” based on a dramatic reversal of the Biden administration’s progressive agenda.

The 78-year-old president quickly announced aggressive new steps to boost fossil fuel production, deport immigrants, and deliver the populist and nationalist platform that swept him to victory in last year’s White House race.

He rescinded dozens of Biden’s executive orders relating to everything from advancing racial equity and sanctioning extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank, to strengthening Medicaid and promoting access to voting.

The sweeping overhaul included withdrawing the US again from the Paris climate pact and marked a statement of intent by the world’s pre-eminent right-wing politician, who was elected after promising to reverse the Biden administration’s agenda.

Trump also announced he would pardon people convicted for taking part in the January 6 2021 riot at the US Capitol, when his supporters stormed Congress to violently halt certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory.

The pardons for the rioters evoked the remarkable return of Trump himself, who won last year’s election despite becoming the first president to be convicted of a felony and after two assassination attempts against him.

Trump’s trade bluster grew over the course of the day. In his inaugural speech, Trump suggested levies were his preferred tool in international economic diplomacy and would be vital to raising revenue for the US, disregarding their potential to raise prices for American consumers.

“Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” he said.

Trump said a plan to impose a universal tariff on all imports — a measure he touted during his campaign — remained on the table.

Trump spoke in the Oval Office surrounded by key aides including chief of staff Susie Wiles, policy chief Stephen Miller, and Peter Navarro, his top White House adviser on trade and manufacturing policy.

Signalling that the crackdown on immigration remained a domestic policy priority, Trump also signed a national emergency on the US-Mexico border and took steps to curtail birthright citizenship for those born to undocumented immigrants on US soil.

“That’s a big one . . . We’re the only country in the world that does this with birthright,” he said, although dozens of other nations allow the right.

Trump’s move will almost certainly be challenged in court for violating the 14th amendment of the US constitution.

The president also directed the Pentagon to draft a plan to deploy troops to the US-Mexico border.

Trump also designated drug cartels as foreign terrorist organisations. Sending US special forces into Mexico to take them out “could happen. Stranger things have happened,” he added.

Trump declined to say if Immigration and Customs Enforcement would commence raids in major cities on Tuesday to take undocumented migrants into custody. “I don’t want to say when, but it’s going to happen, has to happen, or we’re not going to have a country.”

Among his foreign policy pledges, Trump said the US would take back control of the Panama Canal and “build the strongest military the world has ever seen”, even as he promised to end wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, saying he would be a “peacemaker”.