Washington, D.C. – Following news that President Trump intends to impose tariffs on Chinese, Mexican, and Canadian imports into the United States on Feb. 1, largely in response to China’s role in the fentanyl crisis, Rethink Trade and the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statements.

“If the goal is to stop fentanyl imports, then Trump should use the broad authority available to any president to end the de minimis loophole that now allows four million packages to enter the U.S. everyday skirting inspection, Customs info requirements, tariffs and taxes,” said Lori Wallach, Director of Rethink Trade. “Law enforcement organizations and groups representing the families of fentanyl victims, including many killed by fentanyl-laced pills that arrived at their front steps via the de minimis loophole, urged Trump to act on Day One to stop the de minimis fentanyl flood.”

“Using tariffs threats for unrelated goals is unlikely to work even if it were a good idea,” added Wallach. “But if the goal is to reduce our trade deficit, rebuild American manufacturing capacity, and/or raise American workers’ wages, then tariffs can be useful if deployed smartly and with the right complementary policies.”

“It is fairly useless to raise China tariffs without ending the current de minimis trade loophole that allows billions in Chinese imports to skip U.S. tariffs every month because a large volume of China goods will simply circumvent the new tariffs,” Wallach said.

“After decades of failed trade and financial policy benefitting Wall Street and job-offshoring multinational corporations, to reverse the resulting unprecedented income inequality, rebuild America’s gutted manufacturing capacity and pay good wages for more Americans to produce the things their neighbors need, we should not dismiss any policy much less tariffs, which are the quintessential trade policy tool,” said Nidhi Hegde, Executive Director of the American Economic Liberties Project. “We want to reorient our economy to production, innovation and quality and away from consumption of cheap goods and financialization with dollar-denominated assets being our main export. Whether tariffs can further these objectives depends on how they are used and what other policies accompany them.”

The week before inauguration, law enforcement and fentanyl victims’ family groups sent then-president-elect Trump a letter urging him to use his existing authority to take Day One action to close the loophole.

Learn more about Rethink Trade here.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.