Biden says he hopes Trump rethinks tariffs on Mexico and Canada

NANTUCKET, Massachusetts - US President Joe Biden on Nov 28 said he hoped President-elect Donald Trump would rethink his plan to impose tariffs on Mexico and Canada, saying it could “screw up” relationships with close allies.

“I hope he rethinks it. I think it’s a counterproductive thing to do,” Mr Biden told reporters in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he is spending the Thanksgiving Day holiday with his family.

“We have a unusual situation in America - we’re surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and two allies: Mexico and Canada. And the last thing we need to do is begin to screw up those relationships.”

Trump on Nov 25 said he would impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico until they clamped down on drugs and migrants crossing the border, in a move that would appear to violate the US-Mexico-Canada free-trade deal.

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Nov 28 that she did not specifically discuss tariffs in a call she held with Trump on Nov 27, adding the two had agreed there would be good relations between the two nations.

Following the call, Trump said Ms Sheinbaum had “agreed to stop migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border”.

Ms Sheinbaum, however, said she had laid out a strategy that “attended to” migrants before they reached the US border.

Mr Biden, who met with Trump at the White House earlier in November, reiterated that he wanted the transition between his outgoing administration and the president-elect's incoming one to go smoothly.

“And all the talk about what he’s going to do or not do, I think there may be a little bit of internal reckoning on his... part,” Mr Biden said.

Mr Biden spoke to reporters while visiting a fire station in Nantucket and delivering pumpkin pies with his wife, first lady Jill Biden.

Asked what he was thankful for on the holiday, Mr Biden said he was thankful that his administration, with some good luck, would make more progress in the Middle East, noting the recent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Mr Biden said he had spoken to the three Americans who were recently released after being detained in China.

“I’m really happy they’re home,” he said.

Trump has threatened new tariffs on China as well.

Mr Biden noted that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping had established a hotline between the two leaders and a direct line of communication between their two militaries.

“One thing I’m confident about Xi is he doesn’t want to make a mistake,” Mr Biden said. “He understands what’s at stake.” REUTERS