Trump's Trials - Trump says he wants tariffs to start February first

Episode Date: January 22, 2025

President Trump says he's looking at Feb.1 as the day when he'll slap tariffs on Canada and Mexico — two countries his first administration negotiated a trade deal with. Then, an executive order to rename an Alaskan mountain with the highest peak in North America wouldn't be the first name change for Denali. Support NPR and hear every episode sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

I'm Scott Detro and you're listening to Trump's terms from NPR. We're going to be doing all sorts of things nobody ever thought was even possible. It's going to be a very aggressive first hundred days of the new Congress. An unpredictable, transformative next four years. The United States is going to take off like a rocket ship. Each episode we bring you the latest news about the 47th president and the policy changes he is pursuing on his own terms. We know from experience that means challenging precedent, busting norms, and pushing against set ideas about what the federal government can and can't do.

It all raises questions about how much Washington and the country will change over the course of this term. NPR is covering it all in stories like the one you are about to hear, right after this. You're listening to Trump's Terms from NPR is covering it all in stories like the one you are about to hear right after this. You're listening to Trump's terms from NPR. This message comes from Wondery. In the past decade, Boeing has been involved in a series of scandals and deadly plane crashes that have dented the company's once sterling reputation. Can anything save the company's reputation now?

Listen to Business Wars wherever you get your podcasts. Americans are living longer than ever before. On the Sunday story from Up First, we look at a growing number of people using these extra years to find new meaning. You get to the point where you start asking, what did you do in your life that was significant? A look at the transformative power of human passion

and finding your purpose in the transformative power of human passion and finding your purpose in the third act of life. Listen now on the Up First podcast from NPR. Matt Wilson spent years doing rounds at children's hospitals in New York City. I had a clip on tie. I wore Heelys, size 11. Matt was a medical clown.

The whole of a medical clown is to reintroduce the sense of play and joy and hope and light into a space that doesn't normally inhabit. Ideas about navigating uncertainty. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR. I'm Juana Sommers. Last night as he was signing a flurry of executive actions at the Oval Office, President Trump said he's thinking about imposing 25 percent tariffs

on Canada and Mexico by February 1st. Trump has long loved tariffs, but this move could set off a trade war with America's two closest neighbors, partners in a trade deal that Trump himself pushed for in his first term. NPR White House correspondent Asma Halle joins us now. Hi there. Asma Halle Hi there. Lauren Henry Asma, start if you can by telling us more about what Trump is saying he's going to do. Mm-hmm. Trump, you know, sees tariffs as both a negotiation tactic and as a way to raise revenue. He had been threatening sweeping tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and trade experts

thought he might do that on day one, but we didn't see that. Instead, he signed an executive action calling on a bunch of federal agencies to investigate existing trade policy and send him their findings by April. But last night, he also said this. We're thinking in terms of 25 percent on Mexico and Canada because they're allowing vast numbers of people — Canada's a very bad abuser also — vast numbers of people to come in and fentanyl to come in. And a reporter followed up and asked when he might enact those tariffs. I think February 1st. Osma, I want to back up a bit if we can. He said he wants to do this because of quote

vast numbers of people, but what does he mean by that? He's saying he wants to do this to curb immigration and illegal drugs coming over the border. And Wana, this is not the first time he's tried this tactic. You might recall back in his first term, Trump said he would put a tariff on all imports from Mexico until Mexico took steps to reduce illegal immigration. Mexico did take some steps, so Trump backed off his threat. And as we all know, immigration was a huge part of Trump's reelection campaign. A bunch of the executive actions that he signed yesterday are aimed at limiting immigration.

Right, but as we said there is a trade deal with these two countries. That's right. It's called the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, also known as USMCA, and it's a trade deal that the Trump administration signed when it was last in office. But the deal is up for review next year. I spoke to Kathleen Claussen about that. She's a professor at Georgetown who works on international trade law. At this point the Trump administration may be seeking to extract more from each of them in exchange for keeping the deal alive. So this also may be a negotiating tactic, although Trump told reporters tonight

that it had nothing to do with it. Though if history is any guide, this is a review that we're gonna hear a lot about in the next couple of years. Oh yeah, I mean there's so much history here. I mean I remember all of the back and forth with Canada and Mexico over trade in Trump's first term and there were tariffs slapped on things like steel and lumber. Mm-hmm. And remember Canada, they issued retaliatory tariffs on things like beef and bourbon. Mexico put tariffs on US pork. There was a lot of tit for tat. Eventually these tariffs were lifted and a trade deal was struck. Canada and Mexico are among the United States' largest trading partners. You're talking about hundreds of billions of dollars. And so already you're hearing about possible retaliation.

Take a listen to Anita Anand, one of Canada's key cabinet ministers on CTV television over the weekend. We have planned multiple rounds of counter tariffs against the United States, which we will not hesitate to use if necessary. Canada hasn't spelled out a plan in public, but the United States relies on a lot of oil and gas from Canada. Asma, one thing before we let you go, I'm hoping you can just take a step back quickly. Help us understand what it would mean if these tariffs go into effect. Yeah, you know, Trump talks about these tariffs as taxes on other countries, but the tariffs are paid by American companies that import those goods. They often pass along the cost to their customers. Most economists say that tariffs actually end up as taxes on consumers

and some warn that if Trump goes through with this all, it could lead to higher inflation here at home. NPR's Asma Khalid, thank you. Good to speak with you. You're listening to Trump's Terms from NPR. I'm Scott Detro. And what you just heard was not the only big news we have to share today about the incoming Trump administration. Here's another story from NPR's latest coverage. I'm Leila Faldon.

And I'm Steve Inskeep. President Trump's inaugural address added to the culture wars by announcing a name change for the highest peak in North America. We will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. He issued an executive order for the name change. So what's the backstory? Our team placed a call to Joan Antonson

with the Alaska Historical Society to hear her view of the mountain, literally her view. I'm in Anchorage and it's several hundred miles from the mountain and on a clear day, it stands prominently on the horizon. It's several hundred miles from the mountain, and on a clear day, it stands prominently on the horizon. It's magnificent. Wow.

Antonson told us the debate over the mountain's name dates back more than a century. In 1917, the area became Mount McKinley National Park, named after a president who'd never been there but had been assassinated some years earlier. Decades later, in the 1970s, a movement emerged to change the name. Native Alaskan groups used a variety of names for the mountain, and they settled on one. Denali is a Koyakon word that means the high one or the big one. Took a while, but the park was eventually renamed Denali National Park, and then during the Obama administration in 2016, the mountain was renamed Denali II.

There may have been some who opposed it, but they didn't call me or send me letters or emails to that effect. Both of Alaska's U.S. senators are against the move. They say there is only one name worthy of the peak bestowed upon it by Alaska's native people, the name Denali. So how will Antonsen refer to the mountain going forward? Well, if I'm writing something as a historian, and that's the way it is referred to in something I'm referencing, I'll maybe put a footnote in to note that that's the former name of the mountain known as Denali.

People may call it what they like, but in 30 days, the official name returns to that of one of Trump's favorite presidents who governed during the Gilded Age of Millionaires, years when the United States added an empire and the government paid for itself through high tariffs. Before we wrap up, a reminder, you can find more coverage of the incoming Trump administration on the NPR Politics Podcast, where you can hear NPR's political reporters break down the day's biggest political news with new episodes every weekday afternoon. And thanks, as always, to our NPR Plus supporters who hear every episode of the show without

sponsor messages. You can learn more at plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detrow. Thanks for listening to Trump's terms from NPR. On NPR's Wild Card podcast, comedian Michelle Butoh says she's glad she ignored the people who told her to lose weight. I'm just gonna show you what it looks like to love my body, my double chin, my extra

rolls, okay? My buckets of thighs. Sauce on the side, you can't afford it. I'm Rachel Martin. Michelle Butoh is on the Wild Card Podcast, the show where cards control the conversation.