US President Donald Trump signed executive orders to further postpone until April 2 the introduction of 25 percent import duties on goods from Canada and Mexico that fall under the trilateral trade agreement. As he indicated, there will be no such discounts after that date.
“The big thing will happen on April 2, when the retaliatory duties are imposed“, he told reporters at the White House. The president added that after that date the United States will impose tariffs on goods from other countries in line with the tariffs it applies to American products.
He noted that his administration does not plan further delays or adjustments in the introduction of the tariffs. According to him, the only exception is the auto industry - the previous day an executive order was signed exempting the relevant goods from additional tariffs for 30 days. “This is only a short-term solution because it would hurt American auto companies if I did it“, Trump said.
“And they (representatives of automakers Ford, General Motors and Stellantis) came back to me yesterday. And they said: “Can you help us with the tariffs because they are being implemented quickly? And I said: “Listen, I will do this, but that's it. Don't come back to me after April 2nd. I don't want to hear from you after April 2nd. We will not do this anymore”, he concluded.