As Mexico and Canada hit back, China pulls punches on Trump’s tariffs

We don’t need anything they have. We have unlimited Energy, should make our own Cars, and have more Lumber than we can ever use.”

Trump in a message posted on Truth Social Sunday said

Any infrastructure upgrades would not happen overnight,

Gildea told CNN

If Canada is going to rely on America for its economic growth, how about you treat our farmers, our ranchers and our fishermen with respect?”

he said

I think it is a mistake to think that Trump 2.0 is going to be as benign for Asia. I suspect that after (the US) starts imposing these tariffs against Canada, Mexico, China, and moves on to the EU, it will become much harder for firms across Asia to use inputs from China, and potentially Canada and Mexico to export to the US,

said Elms

We're still a small player when compared to the might of the US economy. And so what we have to do is look at where we have critical leverage, where we have essential goods that they are very reliant on,

noted Holmes

It also is a powerful signal to the rest of the world that the US is prepared to do extraordinarily unusual things in order to, as Trump says, make America great again,

said Elms, head of trade policy at philanthropic organisation Hinrich Foundation

At the end of the day, it requires the parties to want it to work. It's not clear that the US under Donald Trump wants USMCA to work,

said trade and economic policy expert Deborah Elms

It will hurt us, it will also hurt them. They're going to feel it very quickly. It will affect the affordability of everyday goods,

he added

Seeing an all-out tariff on all goods and trade with Canada, that is quite profound, quite disturbing, and it will impact businesses,

he told CNA’s Asia First

We can have a tit-for-tat, which would be an absolute disaster,

he told CNA938

It is supposed to prevent exactly this kind of behaviour – a sudden imposition of 25 per cent tariffs across the board,

she told CNA’s Asia First

There are others in his sights. He's already threatened the European Union with upcoming tariffs later on in February,

she added

Ultimately, trade wars hurt everyone - workers, consumers, farmers, and the global economy, particularly if the effects are widespread,

he said

Joining the WTO was challenging for China, as it involved a host of economic reforms and significant cuts in tariff rates,

Elms told Al Jazeera

There is no rush for an economic superpower to let itself be easily provoked,

Holz told Al Jazeera

Not necessarily because their broader objectives align but because both operate in a world where political and economic leverage are constantly recalibrated, where tariffs are as much about signalling power as they are about shifting trade balances – and where the broader geopolitical climate often dictates short-term economic moves far more than any conventional trade logic would suggest,

Chaisse told Al Jazeera

The lower tariff rate on China compared to the sweeping 2 percent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico suggests a strategic rather than purely economic calculation,

he said

Clearly the 10% tariff hike came in quickly and lower, but there remains a lot of uncertainty on the timing and scale of additional tariffs on China,

Wang Tao, chief China economist at UBS Investment Bank told CNBC on Monday

We are not revising our 2025 baseline forecast of 4.0% GDP growth for China,

she said, factoring in additional U.S. tariffs of 60% on a quarter of China's exports and greater policy support from Beijing

MAKE YOUR PRODUCT IN THE USA AND THERE ARE NO TARIFFS!!

In a post on TruthSocial on Sunday, he said