President Donald Trump plans to roll out a 25% tariff on goods coming from Canada starting Saturday, a White House official said, a decision Gov. Maura Healey fears could lead to an estimated $200 million annual increase in the total cost of electricity in Massachusetts.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump said the 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on China, will be put into place in retaliation for the “illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country.”
The drugs have killed “tens of millions of Americans.”
“These are promises made and promises kept by the president,” Leavitt said from the White House briefing room.
She did not provide a list of potential exemptions when asked by a reporter.
“Those tariffs will be for public consumption in about 24 hours tomorrow, so you can read them then,” Leavitt said.
At a speech earlier this month, Healey said the three nations represent Massachusetts’ largest trading partners and placing tariffs on the countries would “harm our entire economy.”
The Canadian tariff alone would increase annual electricity costs in the state by as much as $200 million, the first-term Democrat said.
“And half of that will be borne by commercial and industrial ratepayers. 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,” Healey said.
Massachusetts trades a combined $29 billion worth of goods with Canada, Mexico, and China each year, including lumber, home and factory building materials, and energy to power homes, businesses, and cars, according to Healey.
Healey, who last year called the prospect of tariffs “devastating” for New England, said Thursday that they are “very concerning to me” and the “stakes are high.”
“Anything that hurts your business, hurts our state. That’s why we are aligned and can speak with one voice on this issue,” she told business leaders.
Canadian officials have promised to retaliate if Trump moved forward with the tariffs.
This is a developing story…
Previous Herald materials were used in this report…
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