President Joe Biden warned against damaging relations with Canada and Mexico after Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on both US neighbors when he takes office in January.
“I think it’s a counterproductive thing to do,” Biden told reporters when asked about his successor’s plan.
“The last thing we need to do is begin to screw up those relationships. I think we got them in a good place,” he said during a visit to a fire department in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he is spending his last Thanksgiving holiday as president.
Biden on Thursday also talked about the importance of maintaining a working relationship with China.
“We’ve set up a hotline between President Xi and myself, as well as our military, a direct line,” Biden said, adding he was “confident” that his Chinese counterpart “doesn’t want to make a mistake.”
“I’m not saying that he is our best buddy, but he understands what’s at stake.”
Trump sent jitters through global markets on Monday when he announced on social media that one of his first presidential actions would be to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada — which share a free trade pact with the United States — and add a 10% tariff on China.
After expressing opposition to Trump’s threats in a letter, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke by phone with the Republican president-elect on Wednesday.
Both leaders described the call positively, though there was disagreement about what had been discussed.
Trump claimed that Sheinbaum had agreed to “stop migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border.”
The Mexican president quickly pointed out that she had only explained Mexico’s current “comprehensive strategy” on migration.
