U.S. President Donald Trump is keeping new tariffs in place on Mexico, Canada and China to pressure them to block the flow of the deadly opioid fentanyl into the United States, top White House economic officials said Sunday.
"If fentanyl ends, I think these [tariffs] will come off,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told NBC’s “Meet the Press” show.
“But if fentanyl does not end, or he’s uncertain about it, he will stay this way until he is comfortable,” he said. “This is black and white. You got to save American lives.”
Trump last week issued a string of whip-sawing tariff decisions that plunged the three major U.S. stock market indexes and roiled relations with Canada and Mexico, which are long-time U.S. allies and its closest neighbors, as well as its two biggest trading partners.
Canada wishes he would just fucking stop yammering on about the 43 lbs of fentanyl the border patrol confiscated in 2024 moving from Canada to the US.
In January 2025 Toronto police seized 475 kg (1047 lbs) of cocaine that came through the Mexico-US border and travelled north to the Canada-US border where it was confiscated, along with another 360 kg (794 lbs) of cocaine. Source
It’s not Canada’s fault at all. That said it’s hard to compare drugs like that though. If someone gave me a pound of coke, I’d hopefully not do it, but I’d survive doing all of it within a year. If someone gave me a pound of fentanyl I know I wouldn’t do it, because I couldnt survive doing that in a lifetime. Also fuck that… I can’t understand why anyone tries it