US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday delaying tariffs on a broad range of goods imported from Canada and Mexico for one month as markets continue to quake from the president’s sweeping global tariff effort.
Goods covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement that Trump negotiated in his first term will be exempted until April 2, the date he plans to enact his much-touted global reciprocal tariff plan, which he said “will be much more significant.”
He described his action as a “modification, short-term,” which he said he was taking to mitigate the fallout for American car manufacturers.
“During this interim period between now and April 2, this makes it much more favorable for our American car manufacturers,” he said as he signed his order before reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump announced the exemption for Mexico hours earlier following a phone call with President Claudia Sheinbaum, two days after he announced 25% tariffs on the US’s southern and northern neighbors in a bid to ratchet up pressure on them to curtail the flow of illicit Fentanyl across their borders.
Trump’s decision to impose the penalties has sparked a North American trade war that has rattled international markets amid a mass sell-off that has endured for four days. The Dow is down roughly 1,400 points since Monday, while the Nasdaq has lost over 2%.
Earlier Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the trade war with the US is likely to continue for the “foreseeable future.”
Trudeau said the focus now is “reducing the impact” of the tariffs that have been “unjustly” applied by the US.” He deflected when asked how “heated” the conversation with Trump got.
“I’m not going to get into it in detail,” said the prime minister, adding that he has dealt with Trump, first elected in 2016, and they achieved goals such as the renegotiation of the trade deal with the US and Mexico that benefited all three countries, despite certain “unpredictabilities” on the part of the White House.