President Donald Trump said Monday that sweeping U.S. tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico “will go forward” when a monthlong delay on their implementation expires next week.
“The tariffs are going forward on time, on schedule,” Trump said when asked at a White House press conference if the postponed tariffs on the two U.S. trading partners would soon go back into effect.
The president claimed that the U.S. has “been taken advantage of” by foreign nations on “just about everything,” and reiterated his plan to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs.
“So the tariffs will go forward, yes, and we’re going to make up a lot of territory,” Trump said.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in the East Room at the White House on Feb. 24, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Tasos Katopodis | Getty Images
Trump signed executive orders on Feb. 1 imposing 25% tariffs on products from Mexico and Canada, as well as 10% duties on Canadian energy.
The president, who has praised the use of tariffs as both a negotiating tool and a revenue source, based the orders on the alleged failures of Mexico and Canada to stop crime and drug trafficking at their respective U.S. borders.
But Trump paused the new tariffs two days later, after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made separate pledges to boost their border-policing efforts.
Trump, announcing the new agreements on Truth Social on Feb. 3, said the tariffs on Canadian goods would be paused for 30 days, while the duties on Mexican imports would be postponed for one month.
He said that during that interval, his administration would engage in negotiations with Mexico and pursue a “final Economic deal with Canada.”
Trump, in his norm-breaking first month in office, also slapped 10% tariffs on Chinese imports and announced a plan to impose “reciprocal tariffs” on American trading partners. China has already retaliated with its own targeted tariffs on U.S. imports, stoking fears that a trade war between the two adversarial superpowers could rapidly escalate.
A similar fear has developed with regard to Mexico and Canada, who are among America’s closest allies and top trading partners.
Before Trump paused his tariffs on the two U.S. neighbors, both Trudeau and Sheinbaum announced plans to install retaliatory tariffs on American imports.