In an opinion article on Sunday, Republican strategist Susan Del Percio advised those wary of Donald Trump’s tariff plan not to worry about it being enforced as the president-elect “consistently talks a big game.”
On Monday, Trump said that he would impose a 25 percent tariff on all goods imported from Mexico and Canada until those countries take sufficient action to stop illegal immigration and the flow of drugs like fentanyl into the United States. He also said that Chinese imports would face “an additional 10 percent tariff, above any additional tariffs” until Beijing cracks down on the production of fentanyl.
If the U.S. imposes additional tariffs on all goods from Mexico, Canada, and China, it could generate about $266 billion in tax revenue, assuming no trade disruptions or retaliation. However, these costs would likely be passed on to U.S. families, importers, and companies through higher prices or reduced profits.
In an opinion piece for MSNBC titled “Trump’s Truth Social tariffs pledge is a teachable moment for America,” Del Percio, who has been critical of Trump and his influence over the Republican Party, wrote: “Just because he says something on social media doesn’t mean he will follow through. We know this. Or we should know this. Now let’s act like it.”
The strategist, who is also a MSNBC political analyst, gave an example from 2019 when then-President Trump threatened a 5 percent tariff on Mexico “until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP.”
Shortly after Trump made his threat, he announced that a deal had been struck between the U.S. and Mexico. In it, Trump agreed to “indefinitely” suspend the scheduled tariff, and Mexico agreed “to take strong measures to stem the tide of Migration through Mexico and to our Southern Border.”
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s team via email for comment Sunday morning.
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Trump, meanwhile, had conversations with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau late last month.
Trump said his call with Sheinbaum on Wednesday was “wonderful” and that she agreed to “stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border.” Meanwhile, Sheinbaum said she simply explained Mexico’s “comprehensive strategy” on migration, adding, “We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close borders but instead build bridges between government and people.”
Trump called his meeting with Trudeau at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Friday “productive.”
“I made it very clear that the United States will no longer sit idly by as our Citizens become victims to the scourge of this Drug Epidemic, caused mainly by the Drug Cartels, and Fentanyl pouring in from China. Too much death and hardship! Prime Minister Trudeau has made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation of U.S. Families,” Trump said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Trudeau said on Saturday he had an “excellent conversation” with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
Del Percio’s opinion article focused on the proposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada. She made no mention of China. Trump actually increased tariffs on China during his first term, which led to a trade conflict between Washington and Beijing. A deal between the two countries was reached in 2020. Part of the deal was China promising to buy $200 billion of additional U.S. exports before the end of 2021, which never happened.
Following Trump’s recent tariff announcement, the currencies of Canada, Mexico and China lowered against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday.
“Trump loves tough talk, but he wants respect and admiration more than anything else. Crashing markets, spiking inflation, ugly images and bad PR—that’s not his goal,” Del Percio wrote in her opinion piece.
When the strategist mentioned ugly images, she was referring to comments made by Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, on CBS News’ Face the Nation last Sunday, in which he opposed Trump’s idea to use the military, if necessary, to help in his costly plan to deport millions of illegal immigrants.
“I will not support and will not vote to use the military in our cities. I think it’s a terrible image,” Paul said.
Del Percio also mentioned an article from Semafor released days before Trump’s tariff announcement, in which a few Republican members of Congress expressed leeriness about the possibility of Trump using the revenue from new tariffs to pay for tax cuts.
“I don’t like tariffs, Number One. I think the consumer pays them. So they’re regressive. They’re a sales tax, basically,” Paul told Semafor in the article published November 19.
He told the publication that he’d still listen to the idea of using tariffs to pay for tax cuts even though “I kind of doubt” tariffs would make it into a Republican tax bill.
Del Percio wrote on Sunday that “Trump’s policies have a lot of people concerned, for good reason.”
“Undocumented workers, Dreamers and business owners are all scrambling to protect themselves from bad and worst-case scenarios. But everyone else needs to remember that Trump hasn’t actually done anything yet. Let’s be prepared but not afraid,” she concluded.
