Posted in State & National News, Trump

White House had a busy weekend

   February 3, 2025
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UPDATE: The U.S. and Mexico have agreed to a month-long pause on the implementation of tariffs, President Trump and Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum said in social media posts Monday, according to AXIOS.

President Trump issued these executive orders on Saturday, Feb. 1. The titles are provided by the White House.

IMPOSING DUTIES TO ADDRESS THE SITUATION AT OUR SOUTHERN BORDER
The order imposes a 25% tariff on Mexican imports due to border security concerns. Key points:

1. Declares national emergency over Mexico’s alleged failure to address:
– Drug trafficking organizations
– Human trafficking
– Criminal activities
– Illicit drug flow

2. Tariff Implementation:
– Effective: February 4, 2025, 12:01 AM ET
– Rate: 25% additional duty
– Applies to all Mexican products, with limited exceptions
– No drawback or duty-free de minimis treatment allowed

3. Administration:
– DHS Secretary authorized to implement
– Modifications to be published in Federal Register
– Foreign trade zone entries must be “privileged foreign status”

4. Conditions for Removal:
– Regular consultation between DHS, State, DOJ, and National Security officials
– Tariffs removable if Mexico takes “adequate steps” to address crisis
– Provision for additional actions if Mexico’s response deemed inadequate

5. Retaliatory Measures:
– President may increase duties if Mexico retaliates with its own tariffs

IMPOSING DUTIES TO ADDRESS THE SYNTHETIC OPIOID SUPPLY CHAIN IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
This order imposes a 10% tariff on Chinese imports in response to China’s alleged failure to combat drug trafficking and chemical precursor suppliers. Key points:

1. Timing: Takes effect February 4, 2025, with exceptions for goods in transit before February 1, 2025

2. Scope: Applies to all Chinese products, with specific exclusions under 50 U.S.C. 1702(b)

3. Additional provisions:
– No duty drawback allowed
– No de minimis treatment
– Foreign trade zone restrictions apply
– Potential tariff increases if China retaliates

The order authorizes DHS to implement the tariffs and monitor China’s cooperation on drug enforcement. Tariffs can be removed if China takes “adequate steps” to address the opioid crisis through cooperative actions.

The order cites IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act) and builds upon a previous national emergency declaration in Proclamation 10886 regarding illegal immigration and drugs.

IMPOSING DUTIES TO ADDRESS THE FLOW OF ILLICIT DRUGS ACROSS OUR NORTHERN BORDER
This executive order declares an expanded national emergency regarding the U.S.-Canada border, citing concerns about illegal immigration, drug trafficking (especially fentanyl), and Canada’s alleged insufficient response to these issues. Key measures include:

1. Imposes 25% tariffs on most Canadian products entering the U.S. starting February 4, 2025

2. Sets a lower 10% tariff on Canadian energy products

3. Allows for increased tariffs if Canada retaliates

4. Excludes goods in transit before February 1, 2025

5. Requires DHS Secretary to consult with other officials on border situation

6. Permits tariff removal if Canada takes “adequate steps” to address the crisis

The order grants implementation authority to DHS and requires regular reports to Congress. It modifies existing trade agreements with Canada as needed to enforce these measures.

AIR STRIKES

President Trump posted this on social media on Saturday: @realDonaldTrump

This morning I ordered precision Military air strikes on the Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led in Somalia. These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies. The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians. Our Military has targeted this ISIS Attack Planner for years, but Biden and his cronies wouldn’t act quickly enough to get the job done. I did! The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that “WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!”

OTHER NEWS

AXIOS reports Elon Musk, during an hourlong Spaces conversation on X that began just after midnight this morning, said President Trump has “agreed” to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which Musk called “beyond repair” — “a bowl of worms” with no apple. The Washington Post has a similar report.

Musk and his lieutenants — many of them Silicon Valley transplants, some as young as 19 — have been tied to a series of high-profile departures and ousters at the top of key federal agencies.

The Washington Post has reported a top Treasury career staffer, David A. Lebryk, announced his retirement. Surrogates of Musk’s DOGE effort had sought access to sensitive payment systems.

The White House defended the tariffs with this fact sheet:

President Trump’s Tariffs Are a Necessary Solution 
Background Information
  • TARIFFS STRENGTHEN THE AMERICAN ECONOMY, RAISE WAGES, AND CREATE JOBS:
    • According to a 2024 analysis of tariffs done by McKinsey & Company, “tariffs on imported goods could reduce competition for US producers, increase demand for US-made goods, and create jobs.”
    • A 2024 study on the effects of President Trump’s tariffs in his first administration found that they “strengthened the U.S. economy,” and “led to significant reshoring” in industries like manufacturing and steel production.
    • President Trump’s global tariffs on steel created over 4,000 new American jobs.
    • An analysis from the Atlantic Council found that “tariffs would create new incentives for US consumers to buy US-made products.”
    • Former Biden Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen affirmed last year that tariffs do not raise prices: “I don’t believe that American consumers will see any meaningful increase in the prices that they face.”
    • President Trump’s tariffs on steel and China “reduced imports of affected steel products by 24 percent…and increased U.S. production of steel products by 1.9 percent.”
    • A bipartisan group of Senators wrote Joe Biden in September 2024 asking him to reimpose steel tariffs on Mexico.
  • BRINGING MANUFACTURING BACK TO AMERICA:
    • Hyundai’s CEO stated on January 14th that investing in the US is the best antidote to potential tariffs and touted the company’s newly built $13 billion plant in Georgia.
    • Hyundai Steel is actively considering building a US plant as tariffs loom.
    • Fortune Magazine recently wrote: “Trump’s tariff threats are working: Audi ponders a U.S. manufacturing site—and Porsche might join”
    • Auto suppliers Bosch and Continental have begun developing plans to manufacture in the US in order to avoid tariffs.
      • “Wherever we can further localize, and it makes sense, we will do it” – Continental CEO Nikolai Setzer
China – 10%
  • DEFICITS:
    • In 2018 President Trump implemented tariffs ranging from 7.5% to 25% on over $360 billion of Chinese imports. Since then, the US-China trade deficit has decreased from nearly $420 billion to just over $270 billion, according to USA Trade Online data.
    • Since President Trump imposed Section 301 tariffs on China in 2018 and were extended by Biden, Chinese exports to the U.S. fell by 25%, and the deficit with China plummeted by 35%.
  • CHINA’S ECONOMIC WARFARE:
    • Chinese theft of American intellectual property (IP) costs the US economy an estimated $225 billion to $600 billion annually, according to a 2017 from the USTR.
    • Chinese IP theft poses a threat to US national security, with the CCP targeting a variety of sensitive technologies including artificial intelligence, self-driving, agricultural genetic modification, and telecommunications.
    • In 2024 alone, China hacked the US Treasury Department and nine telecommunications firms.
    • The COVID-19 Pandemic, which resulted in tens of millions of excess deaths and at least $14 trillion in costs to the US economy, originated in a lab in Wuhan, China – something the Chinese Communist Party has continued to deny.
    • China leases the main entry and exit points of the Panama Canal, which is the trade route taken by 40% of all US container traffic, putting the CCP in a position to cut off nearly half of US trade.
    • China has also opened a Confucius Institute in Panama – a CCP-funded educational program historically used to spread Chinese propaganda – that has influenced more than 5,000 Panamanians.
  • TARIFFS WORK:
    • $3 billion shoe company Steve Madden announced plans following President Trump’s election victory to rapidly halve its Chinese production due to the prospect of tariffs.
    • President Trump’s 2018 tariffs were so effective that the Biden administration had no choice but to continue and expand them, with former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stating they were “all about protecting American workers, protecting American businesses.”
      • Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also stated at the time that “It’s very important to protect our workers and our firms in these strategic sectors from the kind of dumping that results when China develops massive overcapacity in these areas.”
  • FENTANYL/BORDER:
    • Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans age 18-45, killing 74,702 Americans in 2023 and 76,226 Americans in 2022, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
    • US fentanyl overdose deaths increased roughly 25x between 2012 and 2022.
    • Most of the fentanyl destined for the United States is manufactured in Mexico using chemical precursors shipped from China.
    • The CCP actively funds, through tax rebates and monetary grants, companies that manufacture and export fentanyl and fentanyl precursors.
    • The Chinese government even holds ownership stakes in companies trafficking fentanyl and fentanyl precursors.
    • From 2023 to 2024, the number of Chinese migrants encountered at the southern border jumped from 24,000 to a record 36,500.
      • This represents a 52% increase over just one year, and a staggering 11,200% increase from 2021, when 323 Chinese nationals crossed the border.
    • 67,138 Chinese nationals have been encountered crossing the southern border since FY 2021, compared to just 5,650 between fiscal years 2017 and 2020.
Mexico – 25%
  • DEFICITS:
    • The annual trade deficit with Mexico under the first Trump Administration averaged $89.3 billion; under Biden, it averaged $135.7 billion.
    • The average annual trade deficit with Mexico increased 52.0% under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
  • STEEL AND ALUMINUM:
    • Imports from Mexico have crushed the US’s once-thriving steel and aluminum industries, with imports of steel conduit from Mexico surging 577% during the Biden administration. Meanwhile, the US steel industry has floundered, with the business environment becoming so poor that historic American manufacturer US Steel pursued a sale to a foreign-owned multinational.
    • The US steel industry has floundered in recent years, with the manufacturing environment becoming so poor under Biden that the historic American manufacturer US Steel pursued a sale to a foreign-owned multinational.
    • Zekelman Industries — North America’s largest independent steel pipe and tube manufacturer — has already closed its Long Beach, California, plant and laid off 150 workers specifically because of Mexico’s steel dumping.
    • Effects of Mexican steel surge could be disastrous if allowed to continue, with an analysis from the Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) finding one million American jobs are at risk.
    • Much of the Mexican steel being imported by the US is originally from China, providing Chinese steel manufacturers with a tariff-free backdoor into the US market.
  • TARIFFS WORK:
    • Exports to the U.S. account for 32% of Mexico’s GDP.
    • Samsung is considering relocating its dryer production from Mexico to its manufacturing facility in Newberry County, South Carolina due to President Trump’s proposed tariffs.
    • LG Electronics is weighing moving its Mexican refrigerator operations to its washing machine and dryer plant in Tennessee due to proposed tariffs.
  • FENTANYL/BORDER:
    • The fentanyl crisis is being fueled by “two powerful Mexican drug cartels.”
    • 21,148 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the southern border last fiscal year, enough to kill 4.8 billion people.
      • This represents a 50% increase from FY 2022.
    • Over 10.6 million illegal immigrants were encountered at the border under Joe Biden.
    • Since FY 2021, 400 individuals on the terror watchlist have crossed the border, an increase of 2,757% from the 14 that were encountered between fiscal years 2017 and 2020.
    • According to ICE data, there are over 425,000 non-detained illegal immigrants with criminal convictions in the U.S., including 13,099 murderers, 56,533 with drugs charges, and 15,811 convicted of sexual assault.
    • Nearly 2 million ‘gotaways’ have evaded border patrol under Harris and Biden, which is more than four times the average under President Trump and more than 500,000 more than the number of gotaways in the decade of FY2010-2020.
Canada – 25% on Canadian goods, 10% on Canadian Energy
  • DEFICITS:
    • The annual trade deficit with Canada under the first Trump Administration averaged $18.7 billion; under Biden, it averaged $61.5 billion.
    • The average annual trade deficit with Canada increased 228.9% under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
    • The lowest annual deficit with Canada under Biden (2021 – $47.7B) was nearly double the highest annual deficit under President Trump (2019 – $25.8B).
  • TARIFFS WORK:
    • Exports to the U.S. account for 21% of Canada’s GDP.
    • Canada’s ambassador to the US Kirsten Hillman told the Associated Press the country is prepared to buy more American products in order to “appease Trump’s tariff threat.”
    • CEO of $14 billion aluminum manufacturer Alcoa said the company will likely send its Australian output to the US if the US imposes tariffs on Canadian imports.
    • Canada has pledged to spend $1 billion to hire more border agents in response to the threat of tariffs.
  • IN ADDITION TO THE TRADE DEFICIT, THE UNITED STATES ALSO SUBSIDIZES CANADA’S TERRITORIAL DEFENSE:
    • Canada currently benefits from U.S. spending per year on NORAD defenses, and protection from the United States Air Force from foreign incursions. The US covers “about 60 percent of the bill for NORAD.”
    • In gross spending, Canada allocates only about 3% of every U.S. dollar spent on defense to defending their own territories, $916 billion in the U.S. vs. $27.2 billion in Canada.
      • As a percentage of GDP, Canada spends 62% less per year than the United States on defense, 3.4% of GDP in the U.S. compared to 1.3 percent in Canada.
    • A 2022 announcement from former Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand outlined only a $4.9 billion investment in NORAD over six years and $38.6 billion “over twenty years on an accrual basis.”
  • FENTANYL/BORDER:
    • Before 2020, most fentanyl was imported into Canada; however, more fentanyl is being produced domestically in Canada. The Globe and Mailreported: “Organized crime groups are producing an increasing amount of fentanyl in Canada, with a growing proportion of those drugs being exported abroad.”
    • 43 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the northern border last fiscal year, enough to kill 9.8 million Americans.
      • This represents a massive 2050% increase from FY 2023.
    • Northern border encounters reached new historic levels every year of the last four fiscal years.
      • Under Biden, the number of encounters at the northern border with Canada surged 420%, from 37,186 in 2021 to 193,540 in 2024.

Featured Photo: Licensed under the Unsplash+ License

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Author: Rick Outzen

Rick Outzen is the publisher/owner of Pensacola Inweekly. He has been profiled in The New York Times and featured in several True Crime documentaries. Rick also is the author of the award-winning Walker Holmes thrillers. His latest nonfiction book is “Right Idea, Right Time: The Fight for Pensacola’s Maritime Park.”
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