Donald Trump has announced he will impose tariffs on the European Union – on the eve of slapping new 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico and a 10 percent tariff on China.

Trump said at the White House Friday he would ‘absolutely’ put tariffs on the nation’s EU allies.

‘The European Union has treated us so terribly,’ Trump told reporters as he inked new executive orders.

‘You want the truthful answer or should I give you a political answer?’ Trump said when asked about it – underlying his commitment to the issue. He said the tariffs on the EU would be ‘very substantial,’ without providing details.

It was not immediately clear when those tariffs would go into place.

He made the comments to reporters after the White House announced the new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China would go into effect on Saturday.

It came in a stunning talk from within the Oval Office where he also said in the coming weeks the U.S. would be slapping tariffs on steel, copper, aluminum, and computer chips, as well as ‘all forms of medecine and pharmaceuticals.’

He indicated Canadian oil might be taxed at a lower rate, perhaps 10 percent. 

‘We’re going to put tariffs on chips. We’re going to put tariffs on oil and gas. That will happen fairly soon, think around the 18th of February, and we’re going to put a lot of tariffs on steel,’ Trump said.

‘Copper will take a little bit longer, and that’ll happen pretty quickly,’ he added.

Tariffs don’t cause inflation. They cause success,’ Trump claimed. He did allow that there could be ‘temporary, short term disruption.’ 

‘People will understand that,’ Trump said.

‘But the tariffs are going to make us very rich and very strong,’ he said.

He connected the Canada Mexico tariffs to fentanyl, the synthetic opioid seen as a driver of the deadly opioid epidemic – blaming them for allowing the transfer of drugs with manufacturing origin in China. 

‘China makes the fentanyl, gives it to Mexico, puts it through Canada, puts it through different different places, mostly Mexico, but also a lot through Canada. And so all three haven’t been treated us very well. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made the bombshell announcement that Trump intended to launch a $1.6 trillion war with America’s biggest trading partners in an effort to boost domestic manufacturing and raise revenues for the federal government.

‘Starting tomorrow, those tariffs will be in place,’ Leavitt told reporters. ‘These are promises made and promises kept by the president.’ 

The tariffs threaten to drive up the price of everything from gas to and pickup trucks and guacamole dip and are an aggressive response to the flow of illicit drugs into the United States.

However, Trump believes that the tariffs will in the long term re-shape the economy and put dollars back in people’s pockets while also piling pressure onto America’s neighbors to help cut down illegal immigration. 

Trump vowed to impose tariffs on steel, copper, and other goods

Trump suggested Canadian oil might get tariffed at a lower rate than the 25 percent, perhaps at 10 percent

China and Mexico are being further targeted over the inflow of fentanyl which she says has killed tens of millions of Americans. Cartels in Mexico produce and smuggle the synthetic opioid with chemicals imported from unscrupulous Chinese merchants.

Canada and Mexico will immediately retaliate with Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, already vowing to pull American booze from the shelves. Canada is the world’s No. 2 market for America’s distilled spirits behind Europe. 

The U.S. deficit in the trade of goods of Mexico has widened from $106 billion in 2019 to $161 billion in 2023 because the country has largely replaced China as the source of cheap furniture, textiles and computer-related imports. 

The deficit with Canada has soared from $31 billion in 2019 to $72 billion in 2023, mainly due to America’s huge imports of Canadian energy. 

‘Starting tomorrow, those tariffs will be in place,’ said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt

 Trump has for years complained about the bad deal he believes the US receives in its trade with its closest neighbors Canada and Mexico to boost to domestic manufacturing, raise revenues for the federal government and cut down illegal immigration. 

The new administration pledged to impose tariffs on China over the inflow of fentanyl which has killed tens of millions of Americans. 

Cartels in South America produce the synthetic opioid with chemicals imported from unscrupulous Chinese merchants. 

The tariffs carry both political and economic risks for Trump, who is just two weeks into his second term. 

Many voters backed the Republican on the promise that he could tamp down inflation, but the possibility of tariffs could trigger higher prices and potentially disrupt the energy, auto, lumber and agricultural sectors.

According to exclusive polling for DailyMail.com conducted by J.L. Partners earlier this month, only 20 percent of voters believe China has acted fairly when it comes to trade while 59 percent said it has not.

As a result, more than half of voters would support placing tariffs on Beijing, despite wide-ranging concerns the move would increase prices. 

Trump had said he was weighing issuing an exemption for Canadian and Mexican oil imports, but Leavitt said she had no information to share on the president’s decision on any potential carveouts.

The United States imported almost 4.6 million barrels of oil daily from Canada in October and 563,000 barrels from Mexico, according to the Energy Information Administration. U.S. daily production during that month averaged nearly 13.5 million barrels a day.

Leavitt brushed off concerns that the tariffs might spike inflation for Americans who have finally seen prices come down and whether Trump would reverse them in that case. 

‘That’s a hypothetical question, and the President is intent on ensuring that he effectively implements tariffs while cutting inflation and costs for the American people,’ she said.

A series of administrations have considered China to be the nation’s top competitor and a rising political power. The U.S. has long had friendly trade relations with both Canada and Mexico, although Trump clashed with both nations over immigration and trade during his first term, ultimately renegotiating NAFTA. 

She spoke hours after Trump once again said the U.S. doesn’t ‘need’ Canadian exports like lumber or cars that U.S. companies manufacture across the border.

Trump said Thursday that he would meet with his advisors to decide whether the tariffs would apply to oil – which impacts products across the board.

‘Oil is going to have nothing to do with it as far as I’m concerned’ Trump said when questioned about it.

Trump spoke about the tariffs Thursday, complaining about the flow of migrants and fentanyl

Leavitt brushed off questions raising concerns about whether the tariffs would spike inflation for Americans or provoke an ongoing trade war

Trump has repeatedly said the U.S. does not need imports from Canada, which sends cars manufactured by U.S. automakers south along with lumber and agricultural products

‘We’re going to make that determination probably tonight on oil. Because they send us oil, we’ll see – it depends on what their price is.’

Trump campaigned on the tariffs as a way to boost U.S. production and prevent the country from getting ‘ripped off’ by other nations. 

But according to an analysis by the Peterson foundation, the tariffs would ‘slow growth and accelerate inflation in all three countries’ in North America.

‘For the duration of the second Trump administration, US GDP would be around $200 billion lower than it would have been without the tariffs. Canada would lose $100 billion off a much smaller economy, and at its peak, the tariff would reduce the size of the Mexican economy by 2 percent relative to its baseline forecast,’ the group found.

Another analysis, by the Tax Foundation, concluded the ‘tariffs on Canada and Mexico alone would increase taxes by $958 billion between 2025 and 2034 on a conventional basis, amounting to an average tax increase of more than $670 per US household in 2025.’

With China included, that would amount to ‘an average tax increase of more than $830 per US household in 2025.’

The administration dismisses the idea that costs would accompany the tariffs, and Leavitt said Trump is committed to permenantly extending his 2017 tax cuts. 

Trump on Thursday night attributed the tariffs to transnational challenges that the U.S. and other nations face: illegal immigration and the flow of illegal drugs.

He said he was imposing them ‘for a number of reasons’ and said they ‘may or may not rise with time,’ indicating the 25% and 10% figures could be a floor.

‘No. 1 is the people that have poured into our country so horribly and so much,’ he said. ‘No. 2 is the drugs fentanyl and everything else that have come into the country, and No. 3 are the massive subsidies that we’re giving to Canada and Mexico in the form of deficits’ – in a reference to a trade imbalance.

Asked if she could guarantee the tariffs won’t spike inflation, Leavitt pointed to the past, when Trump slapped tariffs on China that remain. ‘Americans who are concerned about increased prices should look at what President Trump did in his first term. He effectively implemented tariffs and the average inflation rate during the first Trump administration was 1.9%,’ she said.

She also brushed off Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s comments that his country won’t relent until the tariffs are removed. Trudeau said his country would be ready with a ‘purposeful, forceful, but reasonable immediate response.’ He warned his country could be facing ‘difficult times’ in the coming days and weeks.

‘I don’t think so. I think the President is going to implement those tariffs tomorrow, and he will respond to Mr. Trudeau comments in due time, I am sure,’ she said, referencing an outgoing leader Trump has mocked as ‘governor’ while openly discussing acquiring Canada as the 51st U.S. state. 

Trump said in zoom remarks to the World Economic Forum last week that Canada has been ‘very tough to deal with over the years.’

‘We don’t need them to make our cars, and they make a lot of them. We don’t need their lumber because we have our own forests, et cetera, et cetera. We don’t need their oil and gas. We have our — we have more than anybody,’ he said.