President Trump stated on Monday night time that he deliberate to impose a 25 p.c tariff on merchandise from Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1 and may impose levies on most American imports, as he signed an government order directing federal companies to ship a sweeping assessment of U.S. commerce insurance policies by this spring.

Talking to reporters from the Oval Workplace on Monday night, Mr. Trump stated he was pondering of placing tariffs on Mexican and Canadian merchandise as a result of these nations had been permitting “mass numbers of individuals to return in and fentanyl to return in.” Requested when he may put these in place, Mr. Trump stated, “I feel we’ll do it Feb. 1.”

Mr. Trump additionally stated he “could” impose a common tariff on all imports, saying that “basically all international locations benefit from the U.S.”

The feedback renewed the specter of an imminent commerce warfare, simply hours after such an consequence had appeared to recede. Mr. Trump signed an government order on Monday directing varied companies to check all kinds of commerce points with an eye fixed towards future tariffs, however he didn’t impose any new levies instantly, as he had beforehand threatened.

Nonetheless, the chief order may tee up a wide range of important commerce actions within the months to return. The order directed Mr. Trump’s officers to ship studies to him, principally by April 1, assessing unfair commerce practices, forex manipulation, U.S. expertise controls and discriminatory overseas taxes.

It ordered U.S. officers to look at flows of migrants and medicines from Canada, China and Mexico to the US, and the compliance of these three international locations and others with their present commerce agreements with the US.

The chief order additionally referred to as for officers to analyze the causes of enormous and chronic commerce deficits and “suggest acceptable measures, resembling a world supplemental tariff or different insurance policies, to treatment such deficits.”

Mr. Trump’s order additionally adopted by means of on his latest feedback to create an company he has referred to as the Exterior Income Service to gather tariffs. It requested officers to “examine the feasibility of building and suggest the very best strategies for designing, constructing and implementing” the Exterior Income Service to gather tariffs and duties from overseas sources. Tariffs and different import duties are at present collected by Customs and Border Safety.

U.S. officers can even spend the subsequent few months figuring out international locations the US may negotiate new commerce offers with, in addition to finishing up a full assessment of the U.S. industrial and manufacturing base to evaluate whether or not additional national-security-related tariffs are warranted.

In his inauguration tackle on Monday, Mr. Trump stated he would “instantly start the overhaul of our commerce system to guard American employees and households.”

“The American dream will quickly be again and thriving like by no means earlier than,” he added.

Mr. Trump’s advisers say he stays extra satisfied than ever that tariffs can be utilized to nice benefit. The chief order will tee up the president’s capacity to deploy tariffs on quite a few targets ought to he so select, strikes that might nonetheless scramble worldwide provide chains and spawn world commerce wars.

Individuals aware of the plans stated the president and his advisers have been favoring a mixture of commerce insurance policies like these he floated on the marketing campaign path. These embody a common tariff on overseas merchandise, a better tariff on China and separate measures that might tackle the commerce relationship with Mexico and Canada by imposing taxes on these international locations as properly.

By ordering investigations into a wide range of commerce matters, Mr. Trump could agency up the authorized rationale that may assist his tariffs survive courtroom challenges, whereas additionally giving a few of his prime commerce officers time to be confirmed by the Senate, analysts stated.

Mr. Trump has praised tariffs for his or her capacity to assist U.S. factories, increase income to assist pay for the tax cuts he hopes to enact and customarily function a supply of leverage in negotiations with overseas international locations.

Whereas managing commerce is technically the area of Congress, varied commerce legal guidelines have given the president wide-ranging powers to difficulty tariffs. The president can use them to defend U.S. nationwide safety, reply unfair commerce practices and counter varied forms of worldwide emergencies.

Mr. Trump and his advisers are persevering with to debate the very best methodology to difficulty their tariffs, however they consider they’ve the authorized authority to make use of any of them, individuals aware of the deliberations stated.

Mr. Trump stated on social media in November that he would impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico on his first day in workplace. In response, the Canadian and Mexican governments have tried to mollify Mr. Trump and keep off tariffs. They’ve organized conferences with the president and his advisers, and reassured him concerning the measures they’re taking to safe their borders.

Nonetheless, each governments have additionally warned that they may reply to any tariffs with penalties of their very own. Canada has stated it deliberate to retaliate with tariffs and different commerce restrictions if Mr. Trump went forward along with his plan, and Mexico has additionally threatened its personal tariffs on American exports.

“Our nation is totally prepared to reply to any considered one of these situations,” Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian finance minister, stated on Monday night. “We nonetheless proceed to consider that it might be a mistake for the American authorities to proceed with imposing tariffs.”

Throughout his first time period, Mr. Trump rocked the nation’s world commerce relationships by imposing tariffs on overseas washing machines, photo voltaic panels, metals and a wide range of merchandise from China. These strikes almost doubled the common tariff fee utilized to imported items, although U.S. tariffs remained comparatively low by worldwide requirements.

Some U.S. producers credit score the tariffs that Mr. Trump imposed throughout his first time period — and that President Joseph R. Biden Jr. stored in place — with serving to their companies survive amid intense competitors from international locations like China.

However economists and different companies argue that tariffs can even trigger financial hurt, by elevating prices for households and companies that depend on imported merchandise, and inciting retaliation from different governments that may harm U.S. exports.

Lydia Cox, an economist on the College of Wisconsin-Madison, described tariffs as “a fairly blunt instrument” in a web-based discussion board hosted by the Harvard Kennedy Faculty final week. Tariffs supply some potential advantages for protected industries, she stated, “however they create a variety of collateral harm alongside the way in which.”

Matina Stevis-Gridneff contributed reporting from Toronto.