
Updated Monday, Feb. 3, 5:07 p.m. Eastern: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on social media Monday that President Donald J. Trump agreed to pause the implementation of a 25% tariff on imports from Canada for at least 30 days.
"Canada is implementing our $1.3 billion border plan โ reinforcing the border with new choppers, technology and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl," Trudeau says in the post on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Nearly 10,000 frontline personnel are and will be working on protecting the border."
Trudeau went on to say Canada will appoint a fentanyl czar, list cartels as terrorist, ensure "24/7 eyes on the border," launch a joint strike force with the U.S. and more.
Trump followed soon after with a post on Truth Social, which says he will pause the tariffs for 30 days.
"I am very pleased with this initial outcome and the tariffs announced on Saturday will be paused for a 30-day period to see whether or not a final economic deal with Canada can be structured," Trump says. "Fairness for all!"
Updated Monday, Feb. 3, 2:27 p.m. Eastern: President Donald J. Trump announced Monday the U.S. and Mexico have agreed to a deal to delay tariffs for a month.
Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum posted on social media that her country will reinforce the northern border with 10,000 members of its National Guard to address drug trafficking. Trump says in his own post that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will continue negotiations over border security.
On Saturday, Trump signed an executive order declaring an economic emergency and placing a 25% tariff on almost all of the goods from Mexico and Canada starting on Tuesday. The order also increased a tariff on Chinese import by 10%. The tariffs on Canada and China are still set to take effect Tuesday.
China said it will challenge tariffs at the World Trade Organization and will take unspecified measures in response.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday night Canada would issue its own 25% tariff on billions of dollars in U.S. goods, with many starting on Tuesday. In that speech, he spoke directly to Americans.
"Tariffs against Canada will put your jobs at risk, potentially shutting down American auto assembly plants and other manufacturing facilities," Trudeau says. "They will raise costs for you, including food at the grocery stores and gas at the pump. They will impede your access to an affordable supply of vital goods crucial for U.S. security such as nickel, potash, uranium, steel and aluminum. They will violate the free trade agreement that the president and I, along with our Mexican partner, negotiated and signed a few years ago."
Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House's National Economic Council, said the White House has noticed Mexico is very serious but that "Canadians appear to have misunderstood the plain language of the executive order and they're interpreting it as a trade war."
On social media, Trump said he spoke to Trudeau Monday morning and would speak with him again.
"We don't need them to make our cars," Trump says. "We don't need them to give us lumber. We don't need them for agricultural products, because we have all the agriculture we need."
MEMA, the Vehicle Suppliers Association, said the tariffs would put pressure on the supplier industry and impede the ability of companies to grow, invest and operate their businesses.
"The vehicle supplier industry is the backbone of U.S. manufacturing, supporting over 930,000 American jobs," the organization says in a statement. "Tariffs of this magnitude would drive up costs for manufacturers, reduce investment in U.S. production, and force job losses across the industry."
The American Trucking Associations are also concerned tariffs would decrease freight volumes and increases costs just as the industry is beginning to recover from a freight recession.
"A 25% tariff levied on Mexico could see the price of a new tractor increase by as much as $35,000," the ATA and President and CEO Chris Spear says. "That is cost-prohibitive for many small carriers, and, for larger fleets, it would add tens of millions of dollars in annual operating costs."
Original story follows:
President Donald J. Trump promised tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada on the campaign trail and, on Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the action was coming.
"Starting tomorrow, those tariffs will be in place," Leavitt said Friday, before President Trump formally signed the tariffs on Saturday. "These are promises made and promises kept by the president.
Early reports indicated the tariffs will be 25% on goods from Canada and Mexico and 10% on goods from China, but it remains to be seen if exemptions will be offered on certain goods.
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Canada and Mexico both say they've prepared retaliatory tariffs. That could trigger a wider trade war.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week tariffs would have "disastrous consequences" for the U.S. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country is prepared for any U.S. action.
"Now it is very important that the Mexican people know that we are always going to defend the dignity of our people, we are always going to defend the respect of our sovereignty and a dialogue between equals, as we have always had, without subordination," Sheinbaum said.
One official told Reuters that any exemptions in the tariffs would be "few and far between."
Former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who served in the first Trump administration, said it's likely there will be exemptions and the tariffs won't be a blanket levy.
"There probably will be exclusions," he told CNN. "Because there are some goods that just are not made here, will not be made here, and therefore, there's no particular point putting tariffs on."
Trump blames China, Mexico and Canada for illegal immigration and the importation of fentanyl to the United States. This time around, his commerce secretary is Scott Bessent. In his confirmation hearings earlier this month, Bessent talked about enforcing Trump's threatened tariffs.
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"The goal of tariffs is to increase U.S. industrial capacity, create and protect U.S. jobs, and to protect our national security by ensuring our supply chains, particularly for our military, are not reliant on our adversaries," he testified before the Senate Committee on Finance. "I believe that tariffs can be an important source of government revenue and can help fund investments that benefit American families, workers and companies."
He went on to say that tariffs would be implemented along with other economic policies, including regulatory relief and income tax adjustments, and that tariffs would be designed to target "the appropriate range of jurisdictions and products, with rates calibrated to advance American interests."
When pressed by the committee on exemptions, Bessent said he looked forward to working with the Office of the United States Trade Representative and the Department of Commerce to ensure tariffs are implemented fairly for Americans. He did not list any specific exemptions he might seek.
Whatever products the tariffs do cover will likely increase in price. Mexican imports, in particular, are wide-ranging and encompass everything from trucks to avocados. According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, trade with Mexico totaled $855.1 billion in 2022 with $493.1 billion in imports.
Chief exports from Mexico to the U.S. included computers, cars and motor vehicle parts and accessories. A significant number of those parts and accessories are earmarked for heavy-duty trucks and trailers. Daimler, International and Paccar all have manufacturing facilities in Mexico, and Volvo is building a new plant in Monterrey. With OEM plants come scores of suppliers, such as Bendix, Phillips Industries, Grote, BorgWarner and others have manufacturing plants in Mexico.
Trucking industry groups began reacting to the tariffs Friday. Most comments were in opposition.
โMEMA, the Vehicle Suppliers Association, echoes the profound concerns expressed by sectors across the U.S. economy and reinforce our opposition to a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada which will place additional pressure on the supplier industry and impede the ability of supplier companies to grow, invest, and operate their businesses,โ MEMA stated. โSuch tariffs would have severe consequences for the U.S. vehicle supplier industry, jeopardizing American jobs, increasing costs for consumers, and undermining the highly integrated North American supply chain that is critical to U.S. competitiveness.โ
ATA President and CEO Chris Spear also expressed concern.
โAs the trucking industry recovers from a years-long freight recession marked by low freight volumes, depressed rates, and rising operational costs, we have concern that tariffs could decrease freight volumes and increase costs for motor carriers at a time when the industry is just beginning to recover,โ he said Saturday. โA 25% tariff levied on Mexico could see the price of a new tractor increase by as much as $35,000. That is cost-prohibitive for many small carriers, and for larger fleets, it would add tens of millions of dollars in annual operating costs.
โTrucks move 85% of goods that cross our southern border and 67% of goods that cross our northern border, supporting hundreds of thousands of trucking jobs in the U.S. The trucking industry understands the crises motivating these tariff proposals, which is why we have been a leader in efforts to fight drug and human trafficking. We firmly support policies that will secure our borders and protect legitimate trade, but we also recognize the unintended consequences that substantial tariffs could have over the long-term, including higher consumer costs on the wide range of goods that cross our borders by truck, including food, automobiles, televisions, computers, furniture, and other key manufacturing inputs"
MEMA added, โMEMA urges the administration to lift these tariffs and to prioritize policies that support American manufacturing, economic stability, and competitiveness. We encourage policymakers to work collaboratively with industry stakeholders to strengthen North American trade relationships rather than imposing punitive measures that would ultimately weaken a key sector of the U.S. economy.โ
Spear agreed. "The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement was a major achievement of President Trumpโs first administration. The American Trucking Associations worked hand in glove with all three countries to reach this historic deal, and we look forward to doing so again during the USMCA review.โ"