While Trump has proposed imposing tariffs as part of his economic agenda, his remark at the North Carolina rally appears to be the first time he has said he wants to impose a 25% tariff on Mexico on illegal immigration.

The Republican presidential candidate said Monday that he believed the policy would succeed in pressuring the Mexican government to act.

“You’re the first people I’ve said this to,” he told the crowd, referring to his proposal. “Congratulations, North Carolina. And that only has a 100 percent chance of working, because if it doesn’t work, I’ll impose a 50 percent tariff. And if it doesn’t work, I’ll make it 75 percent.

Going further, Trump said he would even impose 100% tariffs if necessary.

During the 2024 election cycle, the former president has often floated the idea of ​​imposing tariffs on other countries, including China and the European Union, in what he sees as an attempt to to encourage American companies to repatriate their production to the United States. Trump has pledged to impose tariffs of 10% on imports from all countries and 60% on imports from China.

At a rally in Michigan on November 1, Trump warned that he would impose 100% tariffs on automaker Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, if it moved jobs from the United States to Mexico.

“Tell Stellantis that if they plan to move, we’re going to charge them a 100% rate on every car… and they won’t move,” the former president said.

Late last month, Trump told a rally in Pennsylvania that he wanted to impose tariffs on European countries again.

“I’ll tell you, the European Union looks so nice, so beautiful, doesn’t it? All these nice little European countries coming together,” he said on October 29. “They don’t take our cars. They don’t take our agricultural products. They sell millions and millions of cars in the United States. No, no, no, they will have to pay a heavy price.

Some retail and business groups have said they oppose Trump’s proposed tariff policies.

The National Retail Federation (NRF), which represents Walmart and other companies that account for nearly half of container shipping volume, is among the industry groups opposed to Trump’s proposed tariffs.

“Tariffs are a tax on imports, functioning as a sales tax in poor disguise,” the NRF said in a statement in September: addition that they could increase the cost of goods for consumers and harm workers and some businesses.

Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, said Trump’s tariff proposals would, in effect, be an “additional sales tax on the American people.” Speaking on MSNBC in September, she said, “You don’t just throw around the idea of ​​tariffs across the board, and that’s part of the problem” with Trump’s proposals.

Conservative-leaning think tank The Heritage Foundation said in an article earlier this year that Trump had been successful in the past in using the threat of tariffs to “suppress European efforts to impose taxes on carbon and digital services for American industries.

Tariffs used strategically can also “help break up foreign cabals and create a level global economic playing field, creating good jobs here at home,” the organization said.

Reuters contributed to this report.