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President Donald Trump said tariffs scheduled to hit Canada and Mexico next month were “on time” and “moving along very rapidly” following an initial delay, even as a US official cautioned the schedule could be less certain.
Trump was asked if the tariffs, which he delayed until March 4, would go into effect next week as he fielded questions during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron. Canada and Mexico have implemented new border measures in an effort to stave off the tariffs, which Trump says he is levying in a bid to halt flows of undocumented migrants and illegal drugs such as fentanyl.
“The tariffs are going forward on time, on schedule,” Trump responded.
But following the remarks, a US official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the fate of the special 25% levy on Canada and Mexico — tied to border security demands — was still to be determined. Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs that could hit all countries, including Canada and Mexico, will go forward in April, the official said.
Trump did pivot later in his response to discuss his plan to impose those tariffs. The Commerce Department is currently calculating the rate it will impose on other countries, promising to incorporate both tariffs and other barriers on US imports.
“We want to have the same — so if somebody charges us, we charge them. It’s very simple,” Trump said. “But it’ll be very good for our country. Our country will be extremely liquid and rich again.”
Trump has moved quickly to announce sweeping tariffs in his second-term, part of an agenda that aims to use the levies to reshape what he says is a global trading system that is unfairly tilted against the US, and to convince businesses to create more domestic manufacturing jobs.
The US president has already put in place a 10% tariff rate on imports from China, and tariffs on steel and aluminum are slated to take effect in March. The reciprocal levies Trump has pledged could come as soon as April, but those will require the US to calculate those rates on a country-by-country basis. Trump has also said he would likely impose tariffs on automobile, lumber, semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports of around 25%, with an announcement on those coming as soon as April 2.