In an abrupt about-face, the Trump administration announced on Thursday that it will delay imposing the 25 percent tariff on a wide range of goods imported from Mexico and Canada until April 2.
The U.S. president’s decision to pause the aggressive import duty—his second such delay since taking office—followed a positive phone call with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday morning, and, according to reports, less cordial negotiations with Canadian officials later in the day.
The one-month exemption will lift tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico that comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which accounts for approximately half of all imports from Mexico and 38 percent from Canada. This means, at least for now, consumers in the United States will not face higher prices for a range of imported products, including food, textiles, gasoline, technology items, alcohol, and more.
However, this reprieve may be short-lived, with tariffs scheduled to take effect on April 2, the date Trump has also set for sweeping duties on all global imports.
The uncertainty began earlier this week when the 25 percent tariff, originally delayed from February, went into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, March 4. Trump had initially pledged to target Canada and Mexico with tariffs on his first day back in office but had delayed the measure, first until February and then to March. Meanwhile, China was hit with an additional 10 percent tariff, doubling import duties to 20 percent.
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