WASHINGTON — President Trump doubled down Tuesday on his decision to impose a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico a day earlier, reminding his followers on Truth Social that “IF COMPANIES MOVE TO THE UNITED STATES, THERE ARE NO TARIFFS!!!”

In a series of morning posts, Trump also expressed his frustration with Canadian bank policies and mused about Mexican drug busts after imposing the levies in protest of fentanyl imports that killed one in every 1,000 Americans over the past five years.

“Canada doesn’t allow American Banks to do business in Canada, but their banks flood the American Market. Oh, that seems fair to me, doesn’t it?” Trump wrote in another Truth Social post.

The Canadian Bankers Association said last month that 16 US banks have subsidiaries in Canada, such as Capital One and Wells Fargo, though Ottawa has significant regulatory barriers for foreign financial institutions seeking to enter the market.

In another post, the president shared a screenshot of a New York Times article that quoted a Mexican cartel leader who “says he’s trying to figure our how to protect his family in case the American military strikes inside Mexico.”

Later in the morning, the president fired back at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had called the tariffs a “dumb thing to do,” by saying, in reference to his statements that Canada should become the 51st US state: “Please explain to Governor Trudeau, of Canada, that when he puts on a Retaliatory Tariff on the U.S., our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!” — an apparent refernce to tariffs on agricultural imports due to take effect April 2.

The president matter-of-factly said Monday that the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, as well as a new 20% duty on goods from fentanyl hub China, would proceed after delaying their implementation last month.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted in an interview Tuesday that “there’s going to be a transition period” after the tariffs took effect.

“With the China tariffs, I am highly confident that the Chinese manufacturers will eat the tariffs and prices won’t go up,” Bessent told Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends”. “With Canada and Mexico, I think we’re in the middle of a transition, and just like you mentioned, Honda moving to Indiana is a great start.”

Trump, 78, initially threatened the steep levies shortly after re-entering the White House on Jan. 20, saying that both Canada and Mexico had to do more to stop illegal immigration and fentanyl — and that China too must cease its exports of the lethal synthetic opioid that kills in extremely low doses.

Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rushed to appease Trump after the initial threat and illegal migrant encounters along the US-Mexico border hit a 25-year low in February.

Although Trump emphasized fentanyl smuggling in moving forward with the tariffs, he’s also broadly described tariffs as a way of boosting the economy by protecting American companies and incentivizing foreign firms to manufacture items in the US.

China, Mexico and Canada are America’s top three sources of imports and collectively send almost half of American imports — and Trump has acknowledged there may be a noticeable impact on consumer costs after inheriting stubbornly elevated inflation from former President Joe Biden.

The imposition of the tariffs has roiled global markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which shed 650 points at closing time Monday, was down another 325 points as of 2:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, killed an estimated 334,000 Americans over five years, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data last updated in September.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatened retaliation after Trump enacted the levies, saying, “If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do everything, including cut off their energy, with a smile on my face.”

Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro justified the new tariffs by citing the death toll from fentanyl, which is smuggled across land borders and also through the international mail and shipping systems.

“Let’s say that you’re struggling to buy your prescription drugs. It’s Xanax, it’s Valium, it’s Vicodin, Oxycodone for pain, it’s Ambien to sleep. All of these things now are being laced with fentanyl — about 80 million fake prescription drugs received by the DEA in the latest year available that we have. Six out of 10 fake prescription drugs are laced with lethal doses of fentanyl,” Navarro said on Fox News.

“President Trump has said ‘no mas’ to Mexico, ‘no more’ to China — not going to happen on his watch. And right now, this is simply an action to stop Americans dying, and it just has to stop. Everyone right now in America is a fentanyl victim, because I’m sure you know somebody who’s had a son or daughter die, or know somebody who knows somebody.”