WASHINGTON—Peter Navarro, White House senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, defended the Trump administration’s use of tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China to curb the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
“The president is fighting a drug war. This is not a trade war,” Navarro said on Tuesday during a Politico Playbook event.
He stated that because of tariffs, the administration has seen a quick response in terms of collaboration from both Mexico and Canada.
On Feb. 1, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing a 25 percent tariff on all non-energy imports from Canada and a 10 percent tariff on energy imports, effective from Feb. 4. In separate executive orders, the president imposed a 25 percent tariff on all imports from Mexico and an additional 10 percent tariff on all imports from China….