Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Year : 2, Issue: 21/strong>
Reuters, Washington: Donald Trump’s second presidential term could have huge implications for US trade policy, climate change, the war in Ukraine, electric vehicles, Americans’ taxes and illegal immigration.
MORE TARIFFS
Trump has said he will issue executive orders on his first day in office to impose a 25 percent tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico if the two US neighbours do not clamp down on the flow of drugs into the US and people entering the country illegally.
Trump has also called for a global tariff of at least 10 percent on all goods imported into the US, a move he says would eliminate a $1-trillion annual trade deficit.
MASS DEPORTATIONS
Trump has vowed to reinstate his first-term policies targeting illegal border crossings and to forge ahead with sweeping new restrictions.
He has pledged to limit access to asylum at the US-Mexico border and to embark on the biggest deportation effort in American history, which would likely trigger legal challenges and opposition from Democrats in Congress.
He is expected to try to revoke protected legal status for some populations such as Haitians or Venezuelans, but would try to seek a congressional deal to protect “Dreamers” – children of parents who came to the country illegally.
DRILLING AWAY
Trump has vowed to increase US production of fossil fuels by easing permitting and expanding drilling on federal land. He has said he would support widespread oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Trump has pledged to create a National Energy Council to coordinate policies to boost US energy production, led by his pick for interior secretary, former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.
TAX RELIEF
Along with his trade and energy agendas, Trump has promised to slash federal regulations that he says limit job creation. He has pledged to extend personal income-tax cuts that he signed into law in 2017 but which are due to expire on December 31, and he has proposed a number of individual and corporate tax cuts beyond those enacted in his first term.
A PUSH TO END WARS
Trump has been critical of US support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, and has said he could end the war in 24 hours if elected – although advisers concede it will likely take months if not longer. He has suggested Ukraine may have to yield some of its territory if a peace deal is to be struck. Trump is likely to push for historic normalisation of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, an effort he made during his 2017-2021 presidency and which Biden has also pursued.
