‘We’re asking for… fairness’: Navarro defends tariffs to combat cartels, China’s control, and save American lives

Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro defended the Trump administration’s follow-through on implementing tariffs against Mexico, Canada, and China Wednesday evening on Fox News, saying that the U.S. is asking for “fairness.”

After postponing tariffs against Mexico, Canada, and China for a month, President Donald Trump announced the tariffs would be implemented on Tuesday, saying there was “no room left” to negotiate further postponements. On “Special Report With Bret Baier,” Baier called out Canada’s response to hitting the U.S. back with a reciprocal tariff, saying “we’re in a battle” with the allied countries.

“Look, we’re gonna be in a period of adjustment where when we impose reciprocal tariffs or when we impose tariffs that are designed to save American lives. There’s going to be segments like you just had with Mr. [Doug] Ford [Premier of Ontario, Canada], and they’re gonna rattle their sabers. But I don’t want to contribute to that,” Navarro said.

“What I want to say to every world leader who gets up in arms when all we’re asking for is fairness and to have them stop killing our people is, ‘Please, listen to us.’ Canada could do a lot more. Canada has been taken over by Mexican cartels. They bring up these pill presses and printers and the medicines that they fake. You can’t tell the difference,” Navarro added.

In an executive order signed by Trump on Feb. 1, the president announced the administration’s plan to implement a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% additional tariff on imports from China in order to hold them “accountable for their promises to halt illegal immigration and stop poisonous fentanyl and other drugs.”

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Just days after Trump’s February reveal, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum caved to the president, saying they would crack down on the border and address the fentanyl crisis. Following the moves from Canada and Mexico, Trump gave the countries a month-long pause on the tariffs to address the issues.

Additionally, Trump had reportedly been in talks with China to hold off their additional 10% tariff.

“It all starts in China, but then China brings these chemicals over and 50-gallon drums. You know what? When they get to the ports, you know why that stuff isn’t interdicted there? It’s because China owns the ports,” Navarro said.

Baier jumped in, asking if there was a publicly known “threshold” for when the Trump administration would pull back on the imposed tariffs.

“There’s 70,000 Americans dying every year, and that’s the low estimate because you don’t pick up all the deaths from the fake Xanax,” Navarro said.

“What we want to see is Canada and Mexico crack down on China. China, for whatever reason, and there’s a lot of speculation as to whether they mean to do us harm with this. They don’t seem to care. So it’s up to Mexico and Canada to help us do this. Here’s the other thing: the fentanyl crisis is so toxic to our economy because most of the people are dying. They’re prime age working people,” Navarro said.

Since the new 25% tariff implementation, Canada is expected to hit the U.S. with a reciprocal tariff, which would affect food items such as poultry, beef, fish, yogurt, and more, along with various textiles and furniture, according to Politico. In response, both Trudeau and Sheinbaum have pushed back on Trump, saying that the implementation of the tariffs is not justified.

(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/Fox News/”Special Report With Bret Baier”)

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