US launches a comprehensive review of its trade relations

US President Donald Trump has initiated a comprehensive investigation of America’s trade policy.

The executive order published on the White House website, in particular, orders the relevant agencies to investigate the reasons for the US trade deficit with foreign countries, assess the feasibility of establishing a Foreign Revenue Service to collect tariffs, duties and other revenues related to foreign trade, identify unfair trade practices, and review existing trade agreements.

Government agencies will also have to analyze how the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA), signed by Trump during his first term, affects American workers and businesses.

It will also investigate trade with China, study additional economic security measures, assess the effectiveness of measures on steel and aluminum imports, etc.

In addition, Trump told reporters that his administration plans to impose 25% duties on imports from Mexico and Canada on February 1 this year. According to CNN, these two countries are two of the three largest trading partners of the United States.

Last year, imports from Mexico to the United States totaled $475 billion, and from Canada – $418 billion. At the same time, in 2024, the United States exported $322 billion and $354 billion worth of goods to Mexico and Canada, respectively.

The tariffs that Trump intends to impose on both countries are likely to raise the prospect that these countries will retaliate.

In particular, a few days before Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Mexican steel industry chamber CANACERO issued a statement claiming that steel exports from that country to the United States do not pose a threat to the US market, as the US has a clear surplus in bilateral rolled steel trade. CANACERO also dismissed as unfounded accusations of triangulation with materials of Chinese origin.

Canada is weighing retaliatory duties on American products, including aluminum and steel, as a counter to the 25 percent tariffs on its goods that could be imposed by Donald Trump.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bloomberg notes that in 2023, Canada imported 3.74 million tons of steel products from the United States worth about $5.93 billion. Exports of aluminum from the United States to Canada in the same period amounted to 430 thousand tons for $1.91 billion.

In 2018, when Trump imposed some restrictions on Canadian steel and aluminum, the country retaliated with duties on American goods worth about $16.6 billion.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, US steelmakers reduced steel imports (rolled and semi-finished products) by 8.7% compared to 2022, to 28.15 million tons. Imports of rolled metal products decreased by 14.1% year-on-year.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)