When we look at the US import report card, Mexico comes first in the list of countries from which it makes the most purchases. According to the US Census Bureau, total imports from Mexico, which increased by 4.6 percent compared to the previous year, reached 475.6 billion dollars in 2023.
Imports from China, on the other hand, decreased by 20 percent compared to the previous year, falling to 427.2 billion dollars. In the first three quarters of 2024, imports from Mexico were 382 billion dollars, while imports from China were 340 billion dollars.
The data show that the share of Chinese products in the US's total imports decreased to 13.9 percent in 2023. This figure is the lowest rate measured since 2004. Because the share of Chinese products in total imports was 16.3 percent the previous year.
Trump’s tendency to distance himself from China, which he has continued since his first term, Mexico’s desire to fill this gap and its transformation into one of the alternatives for companies wishing to leave China, has made this country the US’s largest trading partner. For example, when we go back to 2017, imports from China were at 21.6 percent of the total. If we continue to examine the report card, Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ statements will become more clearly ingrained in our minds.
The US purchases motor vehicles and spare parts from Mexico at a maximum of 103 billion, machinery and equipment worth 78 billion dollars, and electrical machinery and equipment worth 22 billion dollars. The largest import item from China is electrical machinery and equipment, while 100 billion dollars of the 316.5 billion dollars of imports from Canada are mineral fuels. Motor vehicles and spare parts come next at 38 billion dollars, and when Trump declared April 2 as liberation day for the US, he pointed his guns at many countries. Trump, who likes to draw the world's attention and speaks like a merchant, announced that a tax of 34 percent will be imposed on China, 20 percent on the European Union, 24 percent on Japan, 46 percent on Vietnam, 25 percent on South Korea, 36 percent on Thailand, 31 percent on Switzerland, 32 percent on Taiwan, 26 percent on India, 24 percent on Malaysia, and 10 percent on the UK and Turkey. He also stated that a tax of 25 percent will be imposed on cars manufactured in foreign countries. While he particularly focuses on the automotive sector, it is also understood that he aims to pressure China.
I tried to follow Trump's statements on local channels and take notes. Some of the sentences I found important were as follows: “Promises must be kept, we keep our word. Taxes may seem high today, but if they come and produce in the US, they will reduce the tax to zero.
The jobs in this country have disappeared, they all went to other countries. I tried to impose tariffs in my first term, but they were not continued in the term after me. We will tear down the great trade walls. We will build the best factories in the world in the US, the best cars in the world will be produced here. Remember, before I became a candidate, they said that production could be done in Mexico, but today I say that this production should be done in the US.
I will do whatever I promised. China imposes a 67 percent tax on the US. We will impose a 34 percent tax. The European Union is a tough opponent. They robbed us. We are imposing a 20 percent tax. We will start to be smart again and get rich. We will bring back all the wealth that was taken from us. We could have been much richer than all the other countries. Unfortunately, we missed a century, but we will be rich again.”
Trump, who does not hesitate to name individual countries, does not include Mexico and Canada on the list he announced. But I should mention this for now, because the existence of the North American Free Trade Agreement prevents the US from making unilateral decisions against these countries.
I am sure that those countries will be next in line after a while. Although it is expected that these decisions will harm China the most, it seems that the EU will also suffer a great loss from this.
However, the most important point that draws attention is that Russia is not on these lists. The Truman Doctrine, prepared by Harry Truman in 1947 against the Soviet threat, is apparently coming to an end.
At that time, with this doctrine, the US announced that it would provide financial and military aid to states under the threat of communism. I saw that I was not wrong in my prediction that I made on my television program on Wednesday; Trump, who is trying to maintain good relations with Russia, which is getting closer to China, has thus opened a new page for the US.
