Trump announces significant new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, sparking retaliatory actions | National-politics [Video]

(CNN) — President Donald Trump announced extraordinary new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China — signing the long-promised economic policy at his Mar-a-Lago club on Saturday. The Trump administration said tariffs are aimed at curbing the flow of drugs and undocumented immigrants into the US, but they potentially risk substantial price increases for American consumers across an array of common goods from avocados to sneakers to cars.

Hours later, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country will impose retaliatory tariffs, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced “far-reaching” retaliatory levies. China’s commerce ministry said it will file a complaint with the World Trade Organization and “take corresponding countermeasures,” without elaborating.

The tariffs, and subsequent retaliation, risk igniting a trade war that could significantly damage the economies of the targeted countries and the United States. In anticipation, Trump’s executive action includes a clause that allows the president to expand the tariffs if a …