Canada, Mexico get 30-day delay on blanket tariffs (again)

But this week has been chaos, and it doesn’t seem that throughline will change.

On Tuesday, blanket 25% tariffs were slapped on Canada and Mexico. Canada retaliated within hours. Mexico planned to have a response this weekend. Meanwhile, Wall Street plummeted. Trump stood behind the blanket tariffs in a speech to Congress later that evening.

Then, on Wednesday, a one-month delay was put in place for automakers who complied with USMCA.

Today, other goods from Mexico that fall under USMCA were granted another 30-day reprieve. Several hours later, Canadian products were included, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC.

Recall that Tuesday’s action to implement the blanket levies was itself a 30-day delay. Trump first announced the sweeping tariffs in late January. Canada and Mexico negotiated to delay their early February implementation by a month.

Also, this latest delay will expire on April 2 – when reciprocal tariffs from the US are expected to go into effect on countries that have taxes on American goods.

Mexico gets reprieve

On TruthSocial, President Trump issued this comment:

“After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement. This Agreement is until April 2. I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum. Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl. Thank you to President Sheinbaum for your hard work and cooperation!”

USMCA was the deal Trump negotiated to replace NAFTA during his first term. The tariffs would have superseded that deal.

Temporary relief for automakers

Stellantis, Ford, and General Motors requested a call with Trump to discuss the penalties.

During a daily press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quoted a statement from Trump: “We spoke with the Big Three auto dealers. We are going to give a one-month exemption on any autos coming through USMCA. Reciprocal tariffs will still go into effect on April 2. But at the request of the companies associated with USMCA, the president is giving them an exemption for one month, so they are not at an economic disadvantage.”

Blanket tariffs depress steel demand

As SMU’s parent company, CRU, noted Wednesday, the 25% universal tariffs across all products exported to the US from Canada and Mexico would crush steel demand.

“The primary result of these tariffs, if they remain in place at current levels, is lower demand due to dramatically higher prices for materials, components, and finished goods that traverse the North American supply chain,” wrote analyst Josh Spoores. “We expect overall industrial activity in North America to further compress as Canada and Mexico implement retaliatory actions.”