Trump’s tariff wars: And so it begins... China slaps 15 pc-plus on US soy, meats

The Dow Jones fell 675 points as Donald Trump announced on 3 March 2025 his plan to raise tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada by 25 per cent and on China by 20 per cent across the board — effective today, Tuesday, 4 March.

Of course, the countries thus 'penalised' — by a POTUS who believes it is the country (America) that pays these "high, high tariffs", and not the companies that do the importing (who then pass the cost on to the consumer) — have their own thoughts, and it truly looks like China said 'game on!' to the tariff war Trump has long threatened.

Effectively, it means the American citizen will be paying higher rates for imported goods than before.

Meanwhile, China has declared retaliatory tariffs of an additional amount up to 15 per cent on imports of key US farm products, including chicken, pork, soy and beef.

The retaliatory tariffs announced by China's commerce ministry are due to take effect from 10 March. They include a 15 per cent extra tariff on imports of US-grown chicken, wheat, corn and cotton, it said in a statement. The tariff on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, seafoods, fruit, vegetables and dairy products will be increased by 10 per cent.

China’s finance ministry also earmarked 15 US companies, including drone maker Skydio, for punitive trade measures. It stated that 10 other American companies would be placed on an “unreliable entities list”, preventing them from doing business in China.

Meanwhile, in Canada, Ontario premier Doug Ford told NBC that his nation would respond to Trump's tariffs ‘like they’ve never seen before’.  One of his plans: "If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do anything , including cutting off their energy, with a smile on my face."

Per the US government's own figures, while US export of energy to Canada has expanded slightly of late, the balance is definitely on the side of Canadian imports to the US:

Prime minister Justin Trudeau's office shared a statement on the Trump tariff regime that said: "Let me be unequivocally clear — there is no justification for these actions."

Going on to elaborate on Canada's cooperation with the US in deterring fentanyl transport across the borders, Trudeau's statement adds, “Canada will not let this unjustified decision go unanswered."

"Should American tariffs come into effect tonight, Canada will, effective 12:01 a.m. EST tomorrow, respond with 25 per cent tariffs against $155 billion of American goods — starting with tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods immediately, and tariffs on the remaining $125 billion on American products in 21 days’ time. Our tariffs will remain in place until the U.S. trade action is withdrawn, and should U.S. tariffs not cease, we are in active and ongoing discussions with provinces and territories to pursue several non-tariff measures."

The statement added: “Because of the tariffs imposed by the U.S., Americans will pay more for groceries, gas, and cars, and potentially lose thousands of jobs... They will violate the very trade agreement that was negotiated by President Trump in his last term.”

Trudeau was not alone in that last taunt. US' own netizens had already been kind enough to point out that President Trump’s scapegoat, the "idiot" who signed the US up for the high tariffs — which the US currently pays to export into Mexico and Canada — was in fact... Trump himself, in his 2019 avatar as President of the United States.

Ontario Doug Ford, in the NBC interview, also said that Michigan auto plants would likely shut down within a week if Canada goes ahead with its plans. “I don’t want to respond but we will respond like they’ve never seen before,” he said.  

He also has spoken in the past of removing American alcohol from retail shelves controlled by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario and trashing a USD 100 million deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX for Starlink internet in remote areas (yes, him of Trump’s beloved DOGE).

Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum had a more measured response — or a more diplomatic answer in the quandary, perhaps. “In this situation, we need composure, serenity and patience,” she said on Monday, 3 March. “We have Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and even Plan D.”

In the melee, the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso fell to their lowest exchange values this month, right along with Wall Street's nosedive.

(Of course, India has not been immune, with Nifty and Sensex both shifting down today — but also, India already made economic concessions to the US before prime minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US last month. And while that's another story, it goes to show that the decisions along the US borders will have worldwide implications despite everything other nations may do to stem the tide and stop this tariff war for their part.)