The Trump administration said it will delay the enforcement of 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada until April 2, the US president Donald Trump said March 6 on his Truth Social platform, for the products covered under the USMCA agreement.
While many policy observers say the Trump administration policy change was likely rooted in the potential economic impact US tariffs and likely reciprocal tariffs by these two countries could have on the US economy, Trump implied in his social media post that the reason for the policy shift was rooted more on actions Mexico and Canada have recently taken to enforce better border security.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum thanked Trump for the delay, while Canada's finance minister Dominic LeBlanc said the country would in turn hold off on its second round of retaliatory tariffs on US products.
According to a White House official cited by BBC, approximately 50 percent of imports from Mexico and 62 percent imports from Canada [not covered by the USMCA] will still be affected by tariffs. These proportions are dependent on Mexican and Canadian companies’ export practices.
