President Donald Trump fired off another casual tariff threat Monday even as he told reporters 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico were going forward tomorrow.
Trump made the comment even as markets were tanking when he said there was 'no room left' for Mexico and Canada to avoid tariffs set to take effect at midnight.
Trump has also said he'll impose an additional 10 percent tariff on China, blaming the nation for failing to cut down on fentanyl entering the U.S.
With those tariffs looming, Trump got asked about whether he would sign a free trade agreement with Argentina following his meeting with President Javier Milei, the right wing iconoclast who presented Elon Musk with a chain saw to acknowledge his zeal of cutting contracts and slashing the workforce.
'I'll consider anything,' said Trump, not ruling out the idea.
'I think he's great, by the way. I think he's a great leader. He's doing a great job. He's doing a fantastic job, brought it back from oblivion,' Trump praised Milei, who has been compared to Trump for his politics and his hair.
Then Trump turned toward Britain. 'Yeah, we'll, look at things. We're looking at the UK with things. It doesn't have to be tariffs, but tariffs are easy. They're fast, they're efficient. And they bring fairness,' Trump said.
Trump in recent weeks has railed against taxes that European Union countries slap on the U.S., as well as Value Added Taxes that are common in Europe that Trump calls tantamount to a tariff.
But following his meeting last week with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer Trump indicated that US-Britain trade talks were back on. 'I think we could very well end up with a real trade deal where tariffs won’t be necessary,' Trump said.
His repeated comments about tariffs indicate he does not believe the costs will be born by consumers, and considers them a tool to bring industry to the U.S.
Trump's remarks in the White House, where he was announcing new chip investments inside the U.S., underscored his ability to impact negotiations or send markets sinking with his words.
The S&P 500 index was off 1.8 percent Monday as Trump spoke alongside his Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Fox News carried a graphic showing the tanking Dow Jones average as Trump spoke – then took it away, only to put it back on again.
'Tomorrow, tariffs - 25 percent on Canada and 25 percent on Mexico,' Trump said. 'And that'll start. … What they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs.'
Conversely, Trump sent Cryptocurrency markets upward with a Sunday tweet about establishing 'strategic crypto reserve' for the U.S. He said it would include purchases of lesser-known cryptocurrencies XRP, solana, and cardano.
Trump launched his own meme coin, $Trump, days before taking office, and has done a turnaround from his earlier warnings about digital currency.
Trump is also planning worldwide 'reciprocal tariffs' for the spring. He spoke about how he chose the date on the calendar.
'Reciprocal tariffs start on April 2. And I wanted to make it April 1, but I didn't want to do – I didn't want to go April Fool's Day, because that costs, that costs a lot of money, but that one day,' Trump said. 'But so we're going April 2.'
