Trump plans March 4 tariffs for Mexico and Canada

Washington — US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that his proposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods would come into effect on March 4 as scheduled because drugs were still pouring into the US from those countries.

Trump also said he would impose an additional 10% duty on Chinese goods on that day — on top of the 10% tariff that he levied on February 4 on imports from China.

Trump said drugs were still flowing into the US at “very high and unacceptable levels”, with a large percentage of them the deadly opioid fentanyl.

“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,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social media site. “China will likewise be charged an additional 10% Tariff on that date.”

The statement cleared up some confusion on Wednesday over deadlines for the punishing tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods that Trump has threatened over the fentanyl crisis and US border security.

Trump’s comments on the matter during his first cabinet meeting on Wednesday seemed to suggest that he may push the deadline back for about one month until April 4.

Comments from Trump administration officials indicated that the April deadline was for Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” import duty rates of other countries and offsetting their other restrictions. His trade advisers consider European countries’ value added taxes to be akin to a tariff.

Kevin Hassett, the top White House economic adviser, told CNBC television Trump would determine new tariffs after a study is completed by April 1.

“The schedule is that there’s a study coming out on April 1, and after that the president is going to decide what to do about tariff policies for all countries,” he said, but specifically mentioning Mexico and Canada.

Meanwhile, Mexican economy minister Marcelo Ebrard will meet newly confirmed US trade representative Jamieson Greer on Thursday and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday in an effort to head off the tariffs.

In Canada, public safety minister David McGuinty said on Thursday that the progress Canada had made on tightening security along the border with the US and combating drug smuggling should satisfy the Trump administration.

China, in a letter to Greer, said the two countries should address concerns in economic and trade fields through equal dialogue and consultation.

Reuters