[CTC] Press statements on the tariff increases

Tue Mar 4 09:00:04 PST 2025

Various releases below…

https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2025/03/trump-s-chaotic-approach-canada-mexico-tariffs-will-hurt-american-workers <https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2025/03/trump-s-chaotic-approach-canada-mexico-tariffs-will-hurt-american-workers>

Trump’s Chaotic Approach to Canada, Mexico Tariffs Will Hurt American Workers and Manufacturers

Responsible trade policy requires innovative investments in critical domestic manufacturing sectors
March 3, 2025
Contact: Ginny Roscamp, Deputy Press Secretary, Sierra Club, ginny.roscamp at sierraclub.org <mailto:ginny.roscamp at sierraclub.org>
WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. President Donald Trump’s additional 25% tariffs <https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-imports-from-canada-mexico-and-china/> on American importers of products from Canada and Mexico (except Canadian energy products, which will face a 10% tariff), are slated to go into effect tomorrow, Tuesday, March 4. The tariffs, first introduced in early February, were paused for a month as the countries attempt to address Trump’s concerns on border security and fentanyl (which are unrelated to tariffs). 

An additional 10% tariff on American importers of products from China is already in effect. Other tariffs expected in the coming weeks include an additional 25% tariff <https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-restores-section-232-tariffs/> on all steel and aluminum imports to the U.S., and reciprocal tariffs <https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-announces-fair-and-reciprocal-plan-on-trade/> against importers of products from several other countries including the EU, India, and China. President Trump also said in February he would consider tariffs <https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/19/trump-suggests-25percent-tariffs-on-autos-pharma-and-semiconductors-that-could-go-even-higher.html> on other imports including cars, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.

In response, Ben Jealous, Executive Director at the Sierra Club, issued the following statement:

“President Trump’s belief that tariffs alone will help revitalize American manufacturing is simply not rooted in basic economics. What’s more, his chaotic approach to tariffs, wielding them for objectives like border security or to encroach on Canadian sovereignty, undermines their legitimate use as a tool for responsible trade policy. 

A strategic approach to using tariffs to reinvigorate U.S. industry would include strong domestic investments in manufacturing and the clean energy economy, ensuring trade partners abide by the same high environmental and labor standards as American companies, and plans to continue sourcing critical materials that we don’t make enough of, like aluminum for cars and solar panels, from our closest allies.”

BACKGROUND

In February, Sierra Club sent a letter <https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/default/files/2025-02/sierra-club-letter-trump-steel.pdf> to President Trump calling for the steel tariff to be coupled with an innovation agenda for the U.S. steel industry that includes domestic investments, research and development, tariffs on foreign pollution, and markets for clean American steel.

The Sierra Club’s Industrial Transformation campaign works on new approaches to industrial policy that replaces handouts for corporate polluters with protections for people and the planet through comprehensive solutions that create good-paying, clean manufacturing jobs, cut industrial pollution, and build climate resilience for those hardest hit by the fossil fuel economy. Learn more at https://www.sierraclub.org/industrial-transformation <https://www.sierraclub.org/industrial-transformation>. 

Read more from the Sierra Club: Trump’s Tariffs Will Harm Working Families Without Innovative Strategies To Revive American Manufacturing <https://www.sierraclub.org/articles/2025/02/trump-s-tariffs-will-harm-working-families-without-innovative-strategies-revive>
About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org <http://www.sierraclub.org/>.

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For Immediate Release: March 3, 2025 
Press Contact: Jimmy Wyderko, jwyderko at economicliberties.us <mailto:jwyderko at economicliberties.us> 

Tariffs Won’t Stop Fentanyl Smuggling, So What Is the Real Goal with New China, Mexico and Canada Tariffs? 

Washington, D.C. —  In response to President Trump’s Monday statement that he will impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and raise China tariffs to 20% and the White House’s Sunday night reversal of his February 1 Executive Order so as to again allow de minimis import shipments from Mexico and Canada to evade inspection and U.S. tariffs, Lori Wallach, Director of Rethink Trade, said:

“Tariffs are helpful when they stop unfair trade that could hurt U.S. producers and workers but instead this move is somehow supposed to stop fentanyl from Mexico, Canada and China even though obviously tariffs don’t affect smuggled stuff.

To stop fentanyl, President Trump must end the de minimis trade loophole facilitating a daily deluge of four million uninspected packages that can hide fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills and precursor chemicals shipped nationwide. Instead, Trump reversed initial steps to end this scam after meeting with the CEO of Fed Ex, which profits from de minimis shipments, and yesterday reinstated access for even more uninspected packages, which also dodge tariffs.  

A smart use of tariffs is to bolster U.S manufacturing capacity and workers by stopping unfair imports from countries like China and Vietnamthat use Beggar-Thy-Neighbor currency manipulation, mass subsidies and wage suppression to fuel large, chronic global trade surpluses.  

While raising tariffs on China makes sense, Trump’s failure to close the de minimis loophole means many imports from China will entirely evade his new China tariffs as well as those he imposed in 2018.

Trump’s obsession with Canada, with which we have balanced trade, is bizarre and damaging. And, to address our large and growing bilateral trade deficit with Mexico and continuing job offshoring, the president should speed up the mandatory six-year review and renegotiate the NAFTA 2.0 deal he enacted in 2020 that has not delivered the benefits he promised.

Background:
After meeting in the White House with the CEO of FedEx <https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-meet-with-us-steel-fedex-ceos-abc-news-reports-2025-02-06/___.YzJ1OmFlbHBlY29ub21pY2xpYmVydGllczpjOm86YmM1NjViYTg4MGViOGEzMGQxOGE5ZmEyZjA0OWQ3NzE6Nzo2ZTY4OjFhMjRjMzUwMjk4YmM3MTdlYjE4YzBmZjUzY2YyZDE4YTRhMDMwNDMyYTA1OGI3YzYxNGIwMGU2ZDczNGNhMTk6aDpGOkY>, an express shipper opposed to tighter Customs rules on China <https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/business/tariffs-de-minimis-trump-china.html___.YzJ1OmFlbHBlY29ub21pY2xpYmVydGllczpjOm86YmM1NjViYTg4MGViOGEzMGQxOGE5ZmEyZjA0OWQ3NzE6NzpmMmIzOjMwNmI2OWQ0ZDZiMTc2Mjc2ZjJmODQxMTZhMDk5NjgwOTdhNGVkOTM1NWZkOWExNDEzYTMzOWI4ZTk2ZWUzOTA6aDpGOkY> trade, on February 6 President Trump suspended the provision of his February 1 China tariff executive order closing the de minimis loophole. Late Sunday night March 2, the White House amended the February 1 EOs covering Canada and Mexico to also reverse the end of the de minimis loophole. The reopening of the de minimis loophole for imports from China, Mexico and Canada to enter the United States duty-free and inspection-free from earlier this month is an open door for fentanyl smugglers.

De minimis is the trade loophole that Shein, Temu, Amazon, and other e-commerce giants exploit <https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/www.cnbc.com/2024/09/13/de-minimis-shein-temu-biden-china-rules.html?ref=compactmag.com___.YzJ1OmFlbHBlY29ub21pY2xpYmVydGllczpjOm86YmM1NjViYTg4MGViOGEzMGQxOGE5ZmEyZjA0OWQ3NzE6NzphMGU5OjU5MGNlY2NhMGUwZTM0Y2Q1MmU5NmJkNGFmMzU1MjVhMzY1NGE2NmE2MTdhMTVmNTkyNmMwMWQ3YjY0OGJmMzg6aDpGOkY> to evade tariffs, taxes, normal customs requirements and inspection when they ship directly from China to US consumers. The total number <https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-proposes-new-rule-strengthen-enforcement-and-limit-duty?ref=compactmag.com%23:~:text=Over%20the%20last%2010%20years,a%20year%20by%20FY%202023.___.YzJ1OmFlbHBlY29ub21pY2xpYmVydGllczpjOm86YmM1NjViYTg4MGViOGEzMGQxOGE5ZmEyZjA0OWQ3NzE6Nzo4NGUxOmI4YWRmMzZhMjZiZWZkZjljODI3M2ZhODA0ZjEwNjYwYTM0NjQ5NGZmMTU2NTg2ZDliMzM0YmU0ODIyMzJjODY6aDpGOkY> of de minimis shipments was more than one billion in 2024, up from 139 million in 2015.  Groups representing law-enforcement and families who lost loved ones to fentanyl have asked Trump <https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/www.closedeminimis.com/letters/letter-to-president-trump?ref=compactmag.com___.YzJ1OmFlbHBlY29ub21pY2xpYmVydGllczpjOm86YmM1NjViYTg4MGViOGEzMGQxOGE5ZmEyZjA0OWQ3NzE6Nzo2YmY3OmEzZjVmNDhkNGRmYzdiZTExN2M0OGM2ZTE3ZjZmN2RjY2Y2MzE2MWVlMzA2MjI2ZTNiZDc1MjA2YzRmNGQ5NjM6aDpGOkY> to end de minimis with respect to all countries and to require Formal Entry for low-value commercial imports, so that such goods are once again imported through containerized shipping with full Customs forms and the professional oversight of a Customs Broker, so goods are properly documented and inspected. The Trump administration has ample authority <https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/rethinktrade.org/reports/memo-potus-has-authority-to-fix-the-de-minimis-trade-loophole-now-facilitating-entry-of-deadly-fentanyl-from-china-and-a-flood-of-unfair-imports-that-crush-domestic-firms/?ref=compactmag.com___.YzJ1OmFlbHBlY29ub21pY2xpYmVydGllczpjOm86YmM1NjViYTg4MGViOGEzMGQxOGE5ZmEyZjA0OWQ3NzE6NzowMzJiOjQ0Njk3NGI2ZWMwZjE3MWJhNzZkNWQyZDFkOTI5NzEyZWFhMjVkNzhiMjliNjgyOWUyNjIyMDc0ZWY1Zjg0NjU6aDpGOkY> to do so right now.

Learn more about Rethink Trade here <https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.xxiyZ8jYR2PzzP3T-2B7xfRe69dKmkflcno5GGwYjoeaNQDGHKSuxyEInU5FTnqugp2xbF_oM7GKyPgU6VXhmS-2BmIhmKvQCQuZs8aRfSyghYq8AWldu-2FXcyce3RbPHGpNa-2BGY0qzWnY0eSjL0GO9UyxVT4W2EnK53fa7RMJpaxShI-2B66uv8g70OlcJ36NWz3TfQ30H3hEfjX4PlB3-2BKJaLbZsvyh3TmU2vOae5N0oKQnuGP8-2Fao6hplUEf87bN-2FBi4AFijIEsa2S2MiktQLUeQjtuW1xNOdRaj71qIkHlI1OoBehSEpvE-2BenNh3ViYzic6esFUDg7s4GK8b0emaSEx6OFbT1aUpvE8FycqHsYwv-2F6OqbB3zAej3myOIVCpcEuj3b2fk04Sfp8zKPejZcJnz2z0ZhJH9ILmYCMSpwNQpcuZEpzrPKSpTlEuzqXAMJLT6o7l5___.YzJ1OmFlbHBlY29ub21pY2xpYmVydGllczpjOm86YmM1NjViYTg4MGViOGEzMGQxOGE5ZmEyZjA0OWQ3NzE6Nzo4OTY5OmMyYzI3YWNiZTM5NzY4N2U2MzljN2QwMWI3Zjk0ODRkNDUxN2FkOTZjY2QwMWIxODU0NDgxY2E0MTk5NmFiOGM6aDpGOkY>.
Learn more about Economic Liberties here <https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.xxiyZ8jYR2PzzP3T-2B7xfRVLHe93UVOwKMzRV3WRLVi3QD02k6Zacsjc493Egkk1tv2YA_oM7GKyPgU6VXhmS-2BmIhmKvQCQuZs8aRfSyghYq8AWldu-2FXcyce3RbPHGpNa-2BGY0qzWnY0eSjL0GO9UyxVT4W2EnK53fa7RMJpaxShI-2B66uv8g70OlcJ36NWz3TfQ30H3hEfjX4PlB3-2BKJaLbZsvyh3TmU2vOae5N0oKQnuGP8-2Fao6hplUEf87bN-2FBi4AFijIEsa2S2MiktQLUeQjtuW1xNOdRaj71qIkHlI1OoBehSFaYfFlAapcknl2Nk1IcS2WvMjhLPB5uYPpEltvfU7-2Bn87mY1ycBLUtUzGu2CuNoJuE5KRwDfNYW95gQNPMev-2F3T2viSrgQiKAEAOjMdSDOIHnZ7MGBLVtOrcUeZBuPXsL-2F-2FDra1LzaOboU-2Bzeq7XjT___.YzJ1OmFlbHBlY29ub21pY2xpYmVydGllczpjOm86YmM1NjViYTg4MGViOGEzMGQxOGE5ZmEyZjA0OWQ3NzE6NzozNTQ3OmE1NzdlODQ4OTU2YTg2MjgxMTllMmNkODVjNWFlMTJlOGFiMWVlZDIzNzFlMjcwZjRkNmFlM2I4OTY3ZjY3M2Y6aDpGOkY>.
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https://nfu.org/2025/03/04/american-farmers-and-ranchers-bear-the-brunt-of-tariffs/ <https://nfu.org/2025/03/04/american-farmers-and-ranchers-bear-the-brunt-of-tariffs/>

American Farmers and Ranchers Bear the Brunt of Tariffs
March 4, 2025 Press Releases <https://nfu.org/topics/press-releases/>

WASHINGTON – National Farmers Union President Rob Larew commented today on the President’s decision to implement tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China.  
“The tariffs announced today, along with retaliatory measures from China and Canada, will have serious consequences for American agriculture. Our farmers are the backbone of this country, and they need strong, fair trade policies that ensure they can compete on a level playing field—not be caught in the middle of international disputes. 
“We are already facing significant economic uncertainty, and these actions only add to the strain. Trade policies must come with real, tangible protections for the farmers directly affected. We’ve heard there’s a strategy in place—now we need to see it. Promises alone won’t pay the bills or keep farms afloat. 
“Without a clear plan, family farmers will once again be left to bear the burden of decisions beyond their control, and eventually, so will consumers. We urge the administration to work with our trading partners to prevent further harm to rural communities.”
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https://www.iatp.org/trumps-tariff-fight-hits-farmers <https://www.iatp.org/trumps-tariff-fight-hits-farmers>

Trump’s tariff fight hits farmers and rural communities

Mar 4, 2025
A Tariff-only strategy threatens to increase costs, send prices down for farmers

President Donald Trump launched a tariff fight with major U.S. trading partners today <https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-canada-mexico-china-643086a6dc7ff716d876b3c83e3255b0> by implementing 25% blanket tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports and doubling tariffs on Chinese imports to 20%. These actions not only harm international relationships, markets and consumers, but also are wreaking havoc on farmers and the U.S. agricultural economy. 
“Once again, farmers are caught in the crossfire of Trump’s reckless use of tariffs. Predictably, there are already signs of retaliation, with China and Canada raising tariffs on U.S. farm goods. Other measures from Mexico will no doubt follow. The last time this happened, the Trump administration paid out a record $28 billion in compensation to farmers for lost income. While the payouts slowed the bleeding, the long-term harm to relations with key trading partners continues. We need to be working with our trading partners, not against them,” said Karen Hansen-Kuhn, IATP’s Director of Trade and International Strategies.
“There is no doubt that U.S. trade and farm policy needs to be fixed, but this kind of blanket tariff is not the way to do it. Farmers have made their upfront investments for the year as they head into planting season with enormous market uncertainty. Already low prices and higher costs are likely to be made worse by a tariff war. Tariffs alone are not an economic strategy, nor are they a plan to revitalize rural economies,” said Ben Lilliston, IATP’s Director of Climate and Rural Strategies.
IATP published an article in January that explains what tariffs are, who pays them and how they normally operate <https://www.iatp.org/trade-basics-tariffs-101>.

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826

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