Trump backs off, keeps tariffs on Mexico and Canada for March 4

UNITED STATES - U.S. President Donald Trump retracted his statement and affirmed that the scheduled 25% across-the-board tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada will go into effect on March 4 as scheduled.

Trump also informed that an additional 10% tariff will be applied to China on that day, according to a publication on his Truth Social platform.

In previous days, Trump cut the entry into force of the 25% general tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada from March 4 to April 2.

“On April 2,” Trump replied to the question of when the customs tariffs will be applied, in statements to the press on the sidelines of his first cabinet meeting at the White House.

Likewise, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick commented during the same meeting that if Canada and Mexico manage to demonstrate that they have done an “excellent job” on the fentanyl issue, the tariffs could be postponed beyond March 4. However, he also suggested that the countries could still face tariffs, noting that “the big deal is April 2.”

This is not the first time Trump has caused confusion with his statements, which tend to be short, not well-spun answers and sometimes with biased or erroneous data or arguments.

In a previous statement he confused China with Mexico when referring to the imposition of tariffs, while there is some complexity given the number of different sectors involved in Trump's executive orders related to the imposition of tariffs on different proposed and, in some cases, deferred dates.