Trump backtracks and says tariffs on Mexico and Canada will take effect next week

The question posed to Donald Trump was clear: when would the tariffs on Mexico and Canada start to be applied. The answer, too, was firm: “On April 2.″ However, it contradicted what he had just said — that he would not stop the imposition of tariffs, which were scheduled to take effect on March 4. His Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, tried to intervene, but refused to correct his boss. In the end, seeing that he had made a mistake a day earlier, Trump announced on Thursday that the tariffs will take effect next week.

“The proposed tariffs scheduled to go into effect on March fourth will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled. China will likewise be charged an additional 10% Tariff on that date. The April Second Reciprocal Tariff date will remain in full force and effect. Thank you for your attention to this matter. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” wrote Trump on Truth Social.

The U.S. president has issued so many contradictory threats on tariffs that it is not uncommon for him to end up unsure of the exact status of the situation himself and to issue contradictory statements. On the other hand, the reliability of his dates for their imposition has fallen sharply after a series of postponements.

Trump threatened tariffs on Mexican automobiles on the campaign trail, but he issued a more serious ultimatum after winning the election. He said he would impose 25% tariffs on all products from the first day of his second term if Mexico and Canada did not curb fentanyl trafficking and the influx of immigrants.

On the day of his inauguration, Trump said he would apply the tariffs on February 1. Goods were still moving freely. That afternoon, Trump signed an executive order for the levies to apply from February 4, causing an earthquake in the markets. However, Trump then spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and, in exchange for minor concessions, postponed the tariffs for a month, until March 4.

This week, Trump has insisted several times that the date was still set, but at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday he contradicted himself, stating that the implementation would be from April 2. “I’m not going to stop tariffs,” he said first, before describing how he believed the U.S. had been the victim of years of mistreatment by its neighbors. When asked when they would go into effect, he replied, “April 2.” The Mexican peso and the Canadian dollar reacted upward. Trump had erred on the date for the so-called reciprocal tariffs.

As for Beijing, Trump had promised during his campaign to impose tariffs of 60% on all Chinese products. However, after the elections, he threatened his allies and partners Mexico and Canada with 25% and China with 10%. The procedure followed the same path as with the neighboring countries, with the difference that Trump said he was going to talk to Xi Jinping (apparently to postpone the tariffs in exchange for concessions on fentanyl) and it seems that the Chinese president did not go along with the maneuver. The tariffs went into effect, but U.S. customs were not ready to implement them, so they collapsed. Trump had to backtrack and exempt most shipments, those valued at under $800 from platforms such as Temu and Shein.

Legal uncertainty

Now, Trump says he will apply another additional 10% on Chinese products from March 4. Again, we will have to wait and see whether this is a new false alarm or he is serious. There are also no details on whether most shipments will continue to be exempted. There is only a message on his social network, no legal text or explanatory document, generating uncertainty and legal insecurity, neither of which are good for the economy.

The president boasted at the Cabinet meeting Wednesday that he had managed to close the border to irregular immigration. He justified the tariffs on Mexico based on migrantion and fentanyl. Those on Canada and China, only because of drugs. In his message on Truth Social Thursday, Trump leaves aside the immigration issue.

“Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels. A large percentage of these drugs, much of them in the form of Fentanyl, are made in, and supplied by, China. More than 100,000 people died last year due to the distribution of these dangerous and highly addictive poisons. Millions of people have died over the last two decades. The families of the victims are devastated and, in many instances, virtually destroyed. We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed tariffs scheduled to go into effect on March Fourth will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled,” he said.

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