President Trump Orders Tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China Effective Tuesday, February 4
On February 1, 2025, President Trump signed three executive orders imposing additional tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) in response to emergencies declared at the border related to fentanyl, drug trafficking, and illegal immigration concerns. President Trump has also cited trade deficit concerns related to the tariffs.
IEEPA provides presidential authority “to deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States, if the President declares a national emergency with respect to such threat.” It empowers the President to “regulate … any … importation … of … any property in which any foreign country or a national thereof has any interest by any person … subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.” If the duties outlined in the executive orders are imposed, this will be the first use of IEEPA by a U.S. president to impose tariffs.