President Donald Trump said tariffs on Canada and Mexico that have been on pause for nearly a month will go into effect March 4, according to a Truth Social post Thursday. The president also said the U.S. will impose an additional 10% tariff on China the same day.
The announcement comes a day after Trump indicated in a press briefing that he would soon announce 25% tariffs on imports of cars and other goods from the European Union. He also reiterated that April 2 would be the implementation date for his reciprocal tariff policy, a vow he repeated again Thursday.
Trump originally ordered 25% import taxes on Canada and Mexico to go into effect Feb. 4 but delayed implementation following agreements by both countries to address fentanyl trafficking.
In the Wednesday briefing, Trump said the tariffs on the U.S. neighbors would go into effect April 2, in line with other reciprocal tariffs. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick clarified that both countries would need to prove to the president that they’ve satisfactorily addressed the flow of fentanyl across the U.S. border to receive another pause to the tariffs specific to them.
“It’s going to be hard to satisfy,” Trump said Wednesday.
In his post Thursday, Trump indicated that drugs continue to enter the U.S. at "unacceptable levels,” prompting him to announce plans to implement the tariffs next week.
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday morning said her team is keeping a cool head and remains optimistic the country can reach a deal with the U.S. to avoid tariffs, despite Trump's latest announcement.
Sheinbaum said several members of her security team are currently meeting with Trump administration officials in Washington, D.C., and there are several proposals on the table related to intelligence, coordination and trade.
“We are going to wait and see how — it's Tuesday, right, March 4 — we hope we are able to speak with President Trump once these meetings have happened. So we are going to wait. As you know, he has his way of communicating. But as we always say: cool head and with optimism that we can reach a deal,” Sheinbaum said in Spanish at her daily press conference.
