Trump’s comments on Thursday revealed the confusion he sowed on Wednesday, which appears to suggest that he will be pulled back to April.
President Donald Trump said his proposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods came into effect on March 4th, threatening a 10% obligation on China’s imports.
Trump said in a post on Truth social sites on Thursday that he would impose an additional 10% tariff on Chinese products on March 4th. This would come in addition to the 10% tariffs imposed on imports from China on February 4th through the fentanyl opioid crisis.
According to Trump, drugs, namely fentanyl, are still in the United States at “very high and unacceptable levels,” with most of them being the deadly opioid fentanyl.
“We cannot allow this tragedy to harm the United States, and therefore the proposed tariffs scheduled to come into effect on March 4th cannot be allowed until it is put into effect as planned until it is suspended or seriously limited,” Trump added. “Similarly, China will be charged an additional 10% tariff on that day.”
Those comments cleared some of the chaos that Trump owned at his first cabinet meeting on Thursday, which appeared to suggest that Trump could push the deadline back for about a month until April 4th.
However, subsequent comments from Trump administration officials showed that the April deadline was Trump’s “mutual tariffs” consistent with import tax rates in other countries, offsetting other restrictions. His trade adviser believes that value-added taxes in European countries are similar to tariffs.
Top White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told CNBC Television Thursday that Trump will decide on new tariffs after the investigation is completed by April 1st.
Trump has decided to stick to Tuesday’s deadline for Canada and Mexico, given that he adds additional tariffs to China and his administration sees as insufficient progress to reduce fentanyl deaths, White House officials told Reuters.
“There is ongoing debate with China, Mexico and Canada. We have been treated well on immigration issues, but there are still concerns about other issues with fentanyl death,” the official said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 72,776 people died in 2023 from synthetic opioids, mainly from fentanyl.
Tariffs and border consultations
Meanwhile, Canadian and Mexican officials were scheduled to meet their Trump administration counterparts in Washington, D.C. on Thursday and Friday.
Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard will meet newly confirmed US trade representative Jamieson Greer on Thursday and Howard Lutnick’s Secretary of Commerce on Friday.
In Canada, Public Security Minister David McGuinty said Thursday that Canada should strengthen security along its border with the US and that the fight against drug smuggling should satisfy the Trump administration.
“The evidence cannot be rebutted. Progress is being made,” McGuinty said in a statement aired to a Washington reporter before two days of consultation with US officials, adding that the tests on those metrics were “fulfilled.”
The Canadian Border Services Agency said in a statement it is launching a targeted cross-country initiative focusing on fentanyl and other synthetic drugs to allow illegal contraband to arrive and leave the country.
China said in a letter to Greer that the two countries should address concerns in the economic and trade sectors through equal dialogue and consultation.