New tariffs that began this week on most imports from Mexico and Canada have been suspended until April 2.
Trump signed executive orders Thursday that pause the 25% tariffs on goods traded under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which covers most U.S. imports from those countries, The New York Times reported.
Earlier Thursday, Trump posted on social media the tariffs would be suspended on imports from Mexico, adding that his relationship with President Claudia Sheinbaum "has been a very good one." His post did not mention Canada.
Sheinbaum said his decision came after she showed him how the country had limited the amount of fentanyl flowing into the U.S., The Times reported. Fentanyl was one of the reasons Trump gave for the tariffs.
The round of tariffs began Tuesday and included an increase from 10% to 20% on imports from China.
On Wednesday, Trump granted U.S. automakers that trade under the North American free trade agreement a one-month exemption following concerns raised by Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. The three automakers said the levies are unsustainable for domestic car manufacturing, The Associated Press reported.
Ford CEO Jim Farley had previously described tariffs as “devastating.” Asked if the 30-day suspension was enough for the industry to adjust, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt relayed Trump’s words to the automakers.
“He told them that they should get on it, start investing, start moving, shift production here to the United States of America where they will pay no tariff,” Leavitt said.
Trump defended his tariffs as they began, according to The Times, claiming they are needed to protect “the soul of our country.” He has acknowledged they could cause prices to rise for Americans.
“Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again, and it is happening and it will happen rather quickly,” he said. “There will be a little disturbance, but we are OK with that. It won’t be much.”
Experts worry the tariffs affect international trade agreements and America's relationship with its allies.
“This is a day where the United States stopped seeing trade as force for mutual benefit, and began seeing it as a tool of economic warfare,” Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told The Times, describing the duties as “a fundamental attack on the economic well being of our closest neighbors.”
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