Trump: Tax foreign countries to take back the Panama Canal

US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on countries and take back control of the Panama Canal.

In his inaugural address on Monday, Trump said that instead of taxing the American people to enrich foreign countries, he plans to impose tariffs on countries to make Americans rich. "We are rolling out external tax services to collect all duties, (import and export) taxes and revenues. It would bring a huge amount of overseas money into our coffers."

The comments echoed Trump's previous pledge to impose sweeping tariffs. With this move, he said, "the American Dream will soon return and flourish like never before, restoring the competitiveness and efficiency of our federal government."

However, Trump did not specify how he would implement the tariff plan. Earlier reports said he may not impose new tariffs on his first day in office.

Throughout Trump's inaugural speech, a theme was to restore the glory of the United States, so that the United States can win the respect and status it deserves. He even threatened to rename the Gulf of Mexico the "American Gulf" soon.

He also referred to the recent controversy over the Panama Canal, saying that handing control of the canal to Panama in the first place was a foolish decision. He accused Panama of reneging on its promises and said American ships were being grossly overcharged and not treated fairly.

He also repeated earlier comments that the canal was operated by China: "The most important thing is that the Panama Canal is operated by China, and we did not give it to China, we gave it to Panama." Now we're going to take it back."