The Daily Fuckup

President-elect Donald Trump announced on Nov. 25, 2024, that he would put a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada and a 10% tariff on goods from China, tying the plan to border security and fentanyl enforcement. As of Nov. 29, no such tariffs had been imposed. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/59239afe12033ca99c65c7a2be0e4f0d?utm_source=openai))

Mexico’s response was caution, not retaliation. On Nov. 28, President Claudia Sheinbaum said she believed a tariff war with the United States could be avoided, but she also said countermeasures remained possible if the U.S. moved ahead. That left the late-November debate focused on how to avoid escalation rather than on a fight already underway. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/aa0bb32d874a785ce7460b36808b53e1?utm_source=openai))

The threat still carried real economic weight because the three countries are tied together by manufacturing, agriculture and cross-border supply chains. Automakers, growers and other businesses that rely on North American trade were already having to think through what a 25% levy on Mexican and Canadian imports, or a 10% tariff on Chinese goods, could do to prices, sourcing and production plans. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/12e925cfc44432140d0a776503e095ae?utm_source=openai))

The later record shows the threat was not empty. In February 2025, the White House said Trump was imposing a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% additional tariff on imports from China. But that step came months after the Nov. 29 snapshot. The late-November story was still about warning shots, not a completed trade war. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-imports-from-canada-mexico-and-china/?utm_source=openai))