Trump says he will soon put 25% tariffs on Canada, Mexico

WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will soon impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

"I'll be putting the tariff of 25% on Canada, and separately 25% on Mexico, and we will really have to do that, because we have very big deficits with those countries," Trump told the reporters at the White House.

Trump said the tariffs would take effect on Feb. 1.

"Those tariffs may or may not rise with time. Oil is going to have nothing to do with it. As far as I'm concerned, oil has nothing to do with it," he added.

When asked whether he would impose tariffs on imports of Mexican and Canadian oil, Trump said he would likely make a decision by the end of Thursday.

"We may or may not. We're going to make that determination probably tonight, because they send us oil, we'll see it depends on what the price is," he added.

Trump had previously announced that one of his first executive orders upon taking office would be to impose 25% tariffs on all products from Mexico and Canada, along with addressing "open borders".

He vowed the tariffs would remain in place until issues such as fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration were resolved.