U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday temporarily waived tariffs on some products from Canada and Mexico two days after launching a continental trade war, specifically those that fall under the North American free trade agreement.
Trump signed a new executive order giving some exemptions to Canada after originally saying Thursday that only Mexico would get a partial reprieve on sweeping tariffs until April 2.
According to new orders signed by Trump, imports from Canada that comply with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) — primarily auto components — will avoid the 25 per cent tariffs for a month. Potash — which U.S. farmers import from Canada for fertilizer — will be tariffed at a lower 10 per cent, the same rate at which Trump is tariffing Canadian energy products.
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Imports from Mexico that comply with CUSMA will be excluded from the 25 per cent tariffs for a month, according to a separate order.
Roughly 62 per cent of imports from Canada would likely still face the new tariffs because they’re not CUSMA-compliant, according to a White House official who insisted on anonymity to preview the orders on a call with reporters, the Associated Press and Reuters reported. Half of imports from Mexico that are not CUSMA-compliant would also be taxed under the orders being signed by Trump, the official said.
Trump on Wednesday had announced a reprieve from tariffs on the Big Three automakers Stellantis, General Motors and Ford — which operate North American production lines — until April 2.
That’s when what Trump calls “reciprocal” tariffs will take effect to seek to match all tariffs and trade measures imposed by other countries.
Trump said he was not looking to extend that exemption for autos beyond that date.
“Most of the tariffs go on April the second,” Trump said before signing the orders. “And then we have some temporary ones and small ones, relatively small, although it’s a lot of money having to do with Mexico and Canada.”
The temporary pause also does not include steel and aluminum goods, which will be placed under a separate set of tariffs scheduled to go into effect next week.
More to come
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