Donald Trump says Canada and Mexico are taking advantage of the United States. Is that true?
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By Washington Post, Editorial
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When President Donald Trump began his trade spat with Canada and Mexico this month, he described his proposed 25 percent tariffs as a way to protect U.S. interests. He argued (often inaccurately) that trade deficits are damaging the domestic economy and that America’s neighbors are allowing drugs and illegal migrants to pour across the borders.
Mexican and Canadian leaders managed to persuade Trump to pause those tariffs for a month. As this delay nears its end, it’s worth asking: Is America’s relationship with the two nations healthy? The following quiz takes stock of how Mexico and Canada affect the United States — and vice versa.
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When did Canada last spend more money on imports of goods and services from the United States than it received from exports to its southern neighbor?
Trade between the United States and Canada remained relatively balanced throughout the 2010s. In 2020, the U.S. deficit with Canada began to widen, thanks largely to crude oil prices. The deficit also partly reflects America’s relatively strong economy, which has enabled American consumers to buy more stuff from abroad.
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From 2014 to 2024, U.S. imports from Canada increased more than 20 percent. What happened to U.S. exports to Canada during that period?
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Negative trade balances are not necessarily bad. The United States needs products from Canada and Mexico, just as those countries need American goods — but the amounts are not always equal. Countries use their trade relationships in ways that optimize their economic strengths. For instance, automobiles move back and forth across the Mexico, U.S. and Canada borders at various stages of their manufacturing process. This reflects the way the countries use one another’s labor markets to lower consumer prices.
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In 2023, the United States imported about $530 billion worth of goods and services from Mexico. How much did Mexico import from the United States?
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The United States has maintained a trade deficit with Mexico for decades, largely due to Mexico’s inexpensive labor force. This dynamic pulled many U.S. manufacturing jobs south of the border, but reversing these economic forces is not easy. Moreover, trade between the two countries is being carried out on terms that the United States negotiated with Mexico and Canada — including during Trump’s first administration with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
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This agreement is up for renewal in 2026, yet another reason that Trump’s tariff threats were rash. There is no need for him to sour relations with key economic allies now, because he will have a chance to air any grievances during the upcoming talks.
What share of people convicted for bringing fentanyl into the United States across the southern border are non-U.S. citizens?
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Trump often disparages his allies for being “weak on crime” and allowing drugs to cross into the United States. Regarding Canada, his complaints are meritless; last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted roughly 19 kilograms of fentanyl at the northern border, compared with 9,600 kilograms on the southern border. Indeed, the significant drug traffic streams the other way: from the United States to Canada.
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The flow of drugs northward from Mexico, on the other hand, is a threat to the United States, and Trump is correct to push for a crackdown. His mistake is to treat the Mexican government with hostility, because he will need its cooperation to address the drug cartels. The Biden administration found some success in ramping up seizures at the border and capturing Mexican drug kingpins. Trump should do the same — and simultaneously work to reduce U.S. demand for illegal drugs, including by expanding access to addiction treatment.
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What share of the illegal guns found in Mexico are trafficked into the country from the United States?
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Mexico’s drug trade is dangerous because the cartels possess so many illegal firearms made in the United States. This southward flow of weapons — the “iron river” — is made possible by America’s lax gun laws. In the past decade, as many as 2 million guns from the United States have been traded illegally over the border, Mexico estimates. If Trump wants to be “tough on crime” and address the drug epidemic, he cannot ignore America’s role in arming Mexican criminal organizations.Casting aspersions, as Trump has done with Canada and Mexico, is easy. Far more difficult is to begin constructive conversations about the problems Trump has identified — without jeopardizing the special relationships that have enabled North America to prosper.
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