Trump Tariffs on Hold Pending Trade Review
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump did not enact 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada- plus increased tariffs on China. Instead, he tasked federal agencies to evaluate potential new tariffs, assessing unfair trade practices, currency manipulation, U.S. technology controls and discriminatory foreign taxes with a deadline of April 1 to report results.
The order also directed U.S. officials to examine flows of migrants and drugs from Canada, China and Mexico to the United States, and the compliance of those three countries and others with their existing trade agreements with the United States.
U.S. officials will also spend the next few months identifying countries the United States could negotiate new trade deals with, as well as carrying out a full review of the U.S. industrial and manufacturing base to assess whether further national-security-related tariffs are warranted.
Both Canada and Mexico have warned that they will respond to any tariffs with penalties of their own. Canada has said it planned to retaliate with tariffs and other trade restrictions if Mr. Trump went ahead with his plan, and Mexico has also threatened its own tariffs on American exports.
Outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday Canada will hit back at the U.S. if Trump goes ahead with punishing tariffs on Feb. 1.
“Everything is on the table and I support the principle of dollar-for-dollar matching tariffs,” Trudeau said. “It’s something we’re absolutely going to be looking at if they move forward. We are prepared for every possible scenario.”
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has sought to avoid tariffs on all Mexican goods, which could jeopardize nearly $800 billion in annual trade between Mexico and the US and call into question protections of the USMCA agreement, which Trump signed in 2020.
Sheinbaum has sought to avoid tariffs on all Mexican goods, which could jeopardize nearly $800 billion in annual trade between Mexico and the US and call into question protections of the USMCA agreement, which Trump signed in 2020.
