U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on many countries if they do not fulfil certain conditions. In November last year, he said he would impose sweeping tariffs on imports from Canada, China, and Mexico if these countries failed to stem illegal border crossings into the U.S. and the trafficking of drugs — in particular Fentanyl, which is a deadly opioid.
He has also threatened the European Union (EU) with tariffs, as the U.S. runs a trade deficit with the bloc. This means that its imports from the EU are higher than its exports.
Data show that the U.S. had a trade deficit of more than $208.7 billion with the EU at the end of 2023, second only to China with which it had a trade deficit of $279.4 billion. The third on the list is Mexico (trade deficit of $152.4 billion). With Canada, the U.S. had a trade deficit of $67.9 billion.
Chart 1 shows the U.S.’s trade deficit with select …