Trump’s shifting tariffs on fentanyl crisis

A quick update on the tariffs the Trump administration has been threatening to place on Chinese, Canadian, and Mexican goods as a means of getting those countries to do more to combat fentanyl trafficking into the U.S….

The backstory:

• The one-month pause on the tariffs for Mexico and Canada that Trump implemented last month ended last week.
• In hopes for continuing that pause, Canada and Mexico took several actions to address the fentanyl crisis, including sending more troops to the border and appointing a “fentanyl czar.”

What’s new: But Trump imposed the tariffs anyway, saying both countries had “failed to adequately address” the flow of drugs into the U.S.

• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that Mexico and Canada have “done a nice job on the border” but that fentanyl deaths had not fallen by enough. He said the tariffs could be lifted if the countries proved they were stopping the flow of fentanyl and reducing the number of fatal fentanyl overdoses in the U.S.

BUT:

• Real-time, national data on fentanyl overdose deaths does not exist, so there is no way to know whether Canada and Mexico were able to “adequately address the situation” since February, as the White House demanded. But data through September 2024 show that fentanyl deaths had already been falling at a statistically significant rate for months.
• This left officials unclear about what the White House was trying to accomplish. Mexican officials said it is unclear what more the country could have done on security. Some American officials expressed concern that without a clear path forward, the tariffs could jeopardize any future security cooperation with Mexico.

But then: Two days after imposing sweeping tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Trump abruptly suspended many of them. Trump said he would allow products that are traded under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement trade pact to avoid the 25% tariffs he imposed just days before.

• Trump said that after speaking with Mexico’s president, he was suspending tariffs on many imports from the country, citing progress on fentanyl seizures.
• Later in the day, Trump announced that he would also suspend the tariffs on certain imports from Canada.
• But Trump has already pledged that a second round of tariffs will take effect on April 2.

Why it’s important: Tariffs are not the public health approach that is needed to address the fentanyl and larger addiction crisis. See our previous summary and new video on this.