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Norms Impact

Trump Accidentally Insults Himself: ‘Who Would Ever Sign A Thing Like This?’

A president who signed a major North American trade pact is now using unilateral tariffs to override its practical terms, accelerating executive control over economic policy with minimal democratic friction.

Executive

Feb 25, 2025

Sources

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-usmca-nafta-tariffs-canada-mexico_n_67bda523e4b0f4e8df29f534

Summary

President Donald Trump criticized the terms of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement during a White House press conference, despite having signed the 2020 trade deal. He announced a plan to impose a 25% tariff on all Canadian and Mexican goods starting next week as a corrective policy shift. The move signals rapid executive-driven trade escalation that could directly affect cross-border commerce and consumer prices.

Reality Check

Threatening sweeping tariffs to “make up territory” after signing the underlying deal normalizes governance by sudden economic coercion, weakening predictability that our businesses and rights depend on. Based on this record alone, the conduct is not clearly criminal under federal bribery or extortion statutes like 18 U.S.C. §§ 201 or 875(d), and no concrete quid-pro-quo is described. The deeper breach is institutional: executive orders used to rapidly escalate cross-border penalties as a political fix for a self-authored agreement, shifting trade power toward personal impulse rather than stable, reviewable governance.

Media

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Detail

During a White House press conference on Monday, President Donald Trump said the United States had been “taken advantage of” by Canada and Mexico in manufacturing and other areas and referenced reviewing trade agreements and questioning “who would ever sign a thing like this.” Trump’s remarks referred to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a 2020 trade deal he signed.

Trump said the effects of the USMCA would be alleviated by imposing a 25% tariff on all Canadian and Mexican goods starting next week, stating the tariffs “will go forward” and that the goal is “reciprocal” treatment. He also said the tariffs would be “very good” for the country and would not harm everyday Americans.

The USMCA replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which Trump had repeatedly criticized during his 2016 campaign and after taking office.