Last Monday on the website Truth Social, President-elect Donald Trump made clear his intention to impose a substantial tariff on products imported to the United States from Canada and Mexico. Trump announced his tariff plan after alleging that "thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada,

The president-elect said that he would impose the across-the-board tariffs on Day 1 and that they would stay in place until Canada, Mexico and China halted the flow of drugs and migrants.

The leaders of Mexico and Canada responded quickly, and in different ways. Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, jumped on the phone to Mr Trump to chat about the “intense and effective connections” between their countries. His deputy, Chrystia Freeland, released a statement about the importance of border security.