President Donald Trump on Thursday delayed by a month the implementation of new 25% tariffs on many Mexican imports and some Canadian imports.
The White House insisted the tariffs were intended to stop fentanyl trafficking. President Trump also insisted that tariffs could be used to address trade deficits. He said in the Oval Office that he still plans to implement “reciprocal tariffs” starting in April.
Under the order signed by Trump, Mexican imports that qualify under the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will be exempt from 25% tariffs for a month. Canadian auto-related imports that qualify under the trade agreement will also be exempt from 25% tariffs for a month, while potash fertilizer imported by U.S. farmers from Canada will be subject to a 10% tariff, the same rate Trump wants to impose on Canadian energy products.
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement is a trade agreement reached between the United States, Mexico and Canada during Trump’s first term in office.
About 62% of Canadian imports may still face new tariffs because they do not comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Half of Mexican imports that do not comply with the agreement will also be taxed under the order signed by Trump, the official said.
Earlier in the day, before signing the order on temporary exemptions, Trump first announced a delay in implementing his new 25% tariffs on most Mexican exports to the United States, after hearing directly from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum about how her government has helped stem the flow of immigrants and the deadly opioid fentanyl into the United States.
Trump said on his Truth Social media platform that the tariff suspension on Mexico will be extended until April 2, and that no tariffs will be imposed on Mexican goods imported by American companies under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
He also did not mention a delay in the 25% tariff on Canadian exports in that post, although Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hinted in a television interview Thursday that a delay for Canada was also possible. On Wednesday, Trump delayed new tariffs on cars made in Mexico and Canada and being shipped to the United States for a month.
Trump said he was holding off on tariffs on Mexican goods “as an accommodation and out of respect for President Sheinbaum. Our relationship has always been very good and we are working very hard together on the border, both on stopping illegal aliens from coming into the United States and also on stopping fentanyl.”
“Thank you President Sheinbaum for your hard work and cooperation!” he said.
“We agreed that our efforts and cooperation, within the framework of respecting our sovereignty, have produced unprecedented results,” Sheinbaum said in a statement Thursday.
She later told a news conference that during Thursday’s call, Trump initially wanted to keep his tariffs in place.
But Sheinbaum said she gave him examples of the results she had achieved over the past month, including how Mexico had limited the flow of fentanyl into the United States and how Mexican authorities had sent back to the United States 29 top drug cartel operatives wanted by U.S. officials. She also sent 10,000 troops to Mexico’s northern border to try to stop the flow of migrants and drugs into the United States.
“Mexico was treated with a lot of respect and we made this deal that has benefited both countries,” she said. Still, it’s unclear what will happen when the tariff hold expires next month.
Sheinbaum has previously threatened retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports to Mexico, but unlike Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, she has held off on announcing those tariffs, instead urging a diplomatic solution.
Trudeau said earlier Thursday that he welcomed signs that the United States might delay a large number of tariffs on Canadian products by a month, but his plan to impose retaliatory tariffs remains in place for now. After Trump announced a temporary suspension of new tariffs on some Canadian products, a senior Canadian government official confirmed that Canada’s tariffs imposed in response to the United States remain in place for now. The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
(This article draws on reports from the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.)