(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump said Thursday that goods from Mexico will temporarily be exempt from U.S. tariffs, but the president continued to press Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trump said goods from Mexico that fall under the existing United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement won’t be subject to U.S. tariffs of 25%. The move comes days after Trump hit Mexico with short-lived tariffs for the second time since taking office in January.
“After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum.”
Trump said he is working with Sheinbaum to stop illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking at the southern border. Fentanyl is a potent opioid responsible for most U.S. overdose deaths. Criminal cartels in Mexico smuggle illicit forms of fentanyl – often produced with chemicals from China – across U.S.-Mexico border, according to the DEA.
Trump’s announcement on Mexico came about 20 minutes after the president again criticized Trudeau.
“Believe it or not, despite the terrible job he’s done for Canada, I think that Justin Trudeau is using the Tariff problem, which he has largely caused, in order to run again for Prime Minister,” Trump wrote. “So much fun to watch!”
Trump’s deal with Sheinbaum is temporary. Trump said it would go until April 2, when he plans to announce broader reciprocal tariffs against countries that impose tariffs on U.S. goods or keep U.S. goods out of their markets through other methods.
Since imposing his latest round of tariffs on top trading partners this week, Trump has been steadily paring them back. On Wednesday, Trump said the Big Three automakers – Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV – would be exempt from his tariffs for a month.
In February, Trump took a step forward on his plan to put reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners by signing a memo directing staff to come up with solutions in 180 days. Trump previously said he would put those tariffs in place on April 2 to avoid any confusion on April 1.
In his joint address to Congress on Tuesday, Trump said all countries would have to either make their products in the U.S. or be subject to tariffs.
“Whatever they tariff us, we tariff them. Whatever they tax us, we tax them,” Trump said. “If they do non-monetary tariffs to keep us out of their market, then we do non-monetary barriers to keep them out of our market. We will take in trillions of dollars and create jobs like we have never seen before.”
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, governs trade between the U.S. and its northern and southern neighbors. It went into force on July 1, 2020, and Trump signed the deal. That agreement continued to allow for duty-free trading between the three countries.
U.S. goods and services trade with USMCA totaled an estimated $1.8 trillion in 2022. Exports were $789.7 billion and imports were $974.3 billion. The U.S. goods and services trade deficit with USMCA was $184.6 billion in 2022, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
Tariffs are taxes on imported goods paid by the importer, which are often passed along to consumers through higher prices on the imported products.
