(The Center Square) – After days of high drama surrounding President Donald Trump’s tariff proposals, a U.S. business group is urging all players to avoid a trade war.
John Murphy, senior vice president and head of international work at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said Trump’s decision to pause the tariffs for 30 days will spare Americans “immediate economic harm.”
“It is good news that the U.S. has avoided an imminent trade war with Canada and Mexico, our two most important trading partners, and that the American people are spared the immediate economic harm that tariffs would inflict,” he said. “The Chamber and our members will be fully engaged to ensure this 30-day pause becomes a permanent lifting of the threat of tariffs and a trade war.”
On Tuesday, Trump paused his plans for 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada while starting talks with China on a 10% additional tariff over fentanyl smuggling.
On Saturday, Trump ended decades of duty-free trade between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada with a 25% tariff on imported goods from the two countries, with a lower 10% tariff on Canadian energy resources. Trump said he’d keep the tariffs in place until the illegal fentanyl trade subsided. He also added a 10% tariff on imports from China over that country’s role in producing the chemicals needed to make fentanyl, a powerful opioid blamed for the majority of U.S. overdose deaths.
Two days after hitting U.S. neighbors with tariffs, Trump relented after reaching temporary deals with both Mexico and Canada. The deals curbed losses on Wall Street, although major indexes ended the day lower.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico will immediately reinforce the border with 10,000 members of the National Guard in a move to stop drug trafficking, an issue that has been a problem for decades. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also promised to reinforce the northern U.S. border in exchange for a pause on tariffs.
Murphy said the U.S. Chamber will work toward growing the economy.
“We will continue to work with the administration and Congress on solutions to secure our border, stop the flow of illicit drugs into America, and to support a growing economy and reduced inflation for all Americans,” he said.