Trump Says Tariffs, Taxes On Foreign Countries Will “Enrich Our Citizens”
JAN. 23, 2025…..If President Donald Trump puts a 25% tariff on products coming from Canada starting next weekend, as he said this week he is considering, electricity costs in Massachusetts could increase by as much as $200 million a year, Gov. Maura Healey told business leaders Thursday morning.
The governor said she is very concerned about the president’s idea to impose higher tariffs on China and new, steep tariffs on products imported from Canada and Mexico. She told Associated Industries of Massachusetts that it will be important for the business community and her administration to speak with one voice as they urge the White House to reconsider.
“Those countries are America’s largest trading partners. They are also Massachusetts’ largest trading partners. We trade a combined $29 billion worth of goods with them, annually. That includes lumber and materials we build homes and factories with; and the energy we power our homes, businesses, and cars with,” she said at the organization’s “Executive Forum” in Waltham, according to remarks she prepared for delivery.
While signing a suite of executive orders in the Oval Office on Monday night, Trump told reporters that he planned to put a 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican products beginning Feb. 1. The New York Times reported that the president said his decision was based on the countries allowing “mass numbers of people and fentanyl” to come into the United States. He said Tuesday he plans to impose an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports “based on the fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada,” the Times reported.
The governor noted to the influential business group Thursday morning that commercial and industrial ratepayers would bear at least half the additional cost of electricity if Trump’s proposed tariffs take effect.
“So there is no doubt: Tariffs will mean higher costs for residents – including for the basics they depend on, like clothing and groceries. They will mean higher costs for businesses of all kinds. They will harm our entire economy,” Healey said. “That is very concerning to me, and I know it is to you. The stakes are high.”
Trump was a foil to Healey during her time as attorney general. But since the Republican won a second term in November, Healey has generally softened her rhetoric towards him while also promising that Massachusetts is “not going to change who we are.”
In December, Healey told the News Service that it was important to articulate and highlight “why tariffs are potentially really devastating to Massachusetts and to our New England economy” amid Trump’s pledges to wield them as a way to influence border policies of other countries.
“As somebody who’s trying to grow housing in the state, the last thing I need is tariffs on the lumber coming from Canada, right? Or all the things that we need for our growing robotics, advanced manufacturing, AI, life sciences industries here in Massachusetts — the last thing that we need are tariffs on Asia,” she said.
The threat of tariffs also caught the attention of the Massachusetts Lottery, where the impact of inflation is felt greatest around “anything that involves paper — our bet slips, our terminal paper, and especially our instant ticket purchases,” Executive Director Mark William Bracken said last month.
“We’ll be watching what happens come the new year, given the recent announcements of upwards to 30% tariffs happening, being levied against Canada. A lot of the paper that these companies uses come from Canada and come across border, so we could be seeing some significant increases if, in fact, tariffs are implemented like it has been said that they will be by the incoming president,” he said. “So things we’re looking at that could drastically change some of our operation, our budget, right from the start, if, if our cost is going up 30% on paper products, especially on instant tickets.”
Tariffs were part of Trump’s trade policy during his first administration and he pledged Monday to “immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families.”
“Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens. For this purpose, we are establishing the External Revenue Service to collect all tariffs, duties, and revenues. It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our Treasury, coming from foreign sources,” he said during his inaugural address.
Scott Bessent, Trump’s nominee for Treasury secretary, told the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance last week that the second Trump administration sees multiple uses for tariffs.
“One will be for remedying unfair trade practices,” he said. “For a more generalized tariff as a revenue raiser for the federal budget … [and] tariffs can be used for negotiations.”
Trump’s “tariff agenda” and its impacts on U.S. businesses is among the topics set to be discussed in depth next week as the Massachusetts Export Center hosts its 15th annual Export Expo virtually.
“This year’s Export Expo will focus on current and imminent developments in our international trade environment, including the impact of the presidential election, geopolitical landscape, policy, regulation and enforcement on global trade operations. Critical issues such as export control and economic sanctions policy, potential implementation of widespread tariffs, escalating regulatory enforcement and more will be addressed, with a focus on helping companies to remain nimble while navigating and responding to a dynamic and increasingly complex global trade environment,” the organization said.
