Tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China are now in effect after these countries failed to adequately stem the flow of illegal immigrants and deadly fentanyl in the United States despite President Donald Trump’s repeated efforts to give them time to act. Never mind that Trump is the first president in decades to care about American safety and sovereignty because the same voices who stayed silent when the Biden administration’s inflation devastated Americans are now claiming tariffs will drive up costs and therefore Trump shouldn’t implement them.
But Americans should not be gaslit into having to choose between our sovereignty or low prices.
“Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels,” Trump said in a February 27 post on Truth Social, noting the drugs are largely made in and supplied by China.
Touching on the more than 100,000 Americans who have died due to fentanyl crisis, Trump continued: “We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled.”
The White House previously added that the “threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, constitutes a national emergency” and therefore tariffs would be levied to hold the trio “accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country.”
“While President Trump gave both Canada and Mexico ample opportunity to curb the dangerous cartel activity and influx of lethal drugs flowing into our country, they have failed to adequately address the situation,” the White House said.
And so on Tuesday at midnight, 25% tariffs went into effect.
There has been a wave of hysteria, with the left-wing media claiming to be concerned about potential price increases. (Notably, these outlets stayed largely silent for four years as Americans were crushed by record high inflation).
“Trump puts tariffs on thousands of goods from Canada and Mexico, risking higher prices,” NBC News’ Shannon Pettypiece wrote.
CBS News’ Megan Cerullo wrote the tariffs “will drive up the costs of an array of consumer goods, from groceries to automobiles, and could cause more financial strain for inflation-weary consumers, experts say.”
NPR’s Laurel Wamsley wrote Trump’s tariffs “could cost you and your wallet” and warned that “Americans will be stuck with the higher prices.”
And The New York Times’ Danielle Kaye wrote: “From Groceries to Cars, Tariffs Could Raise Prices for U.S. Consumers.”
But Americans should not — and cannot — put a price on our sovereignty and safety.
For decades, weak leadership has allowed drugs to flood our communities and illegal immigrants to overwhelm our borders. Just because previous administrations failed to act doesn’t mean Trump should follow their failed policies.
In fact, using tariffs as a way to protect national interests is done all the time!
Politifact said as much in 2018 when justifying Canada’s roughly 270% tariff on American dairy products as a way to “protect” Canada’s dairy industry.
“After a small fixed quota of U.S. exports is reached, Canada imposes a tariff on any dairy products brought into the country,” Politifact wrote. “For instance, fluid milk is 241 percent, cheese is 245.5 percent, ice cream is 277 percent, cream is 292.5 percent, and butter is 298.5 percent.”
And yet when the United States decides to protect its national interest, it’s decried as an economic disaster.
But protecting our nation’s safety and sovereignty is not an economic disaster. It’s a patriotic duty. Our safety, our communities, and our future are worth more than potential temporary price hikes.
Trump’s tariffs are about securing America’s future — and no price is too high to pay for that.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
