President Trump said Monday that the 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico will officially go into effect Tuesday, announcing that there is no room for dealmaking to delay them again.
“The tariffs, they’re all set. They go into effect tomorrow,” he said, adding that there’s “no room left for Mexico or Canada” to make a deal before midnight.
Trump had warned last week that the tariffs will go forward after he delayed them for a month following conversations with the Canadian and Mexican leaders, during which they agreed to action to address the flow of drugs at the border.
Trump said on Monday that “vast amounts of fentanyl got poured into our country” largely through Mexico and from China, and he encouraged car manufacturers to build plants in the U.S. to avoid the upcoming tariffs.
“So, what they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs,” Trump said on Monday.
The president also announced that reciprocal tariffs will start on April 2, which will cover imports from all nations that levy import taxes on U.S. goods.
“Reciprocal tariffs start on April 2. And I wanted to make it April 1, but I didn’t want to do it, I didn’t want to go April Fool’s Day, because that…costs a lot of money… so we’re going April 2,” Trump quipped.
Trump said on Truth Social earlier on Monday that tariffs on “external” agricultural products will be imposed early April.
“To the Great Farmers of the United States: Get ready to start making a lot of agricultural product to be sold INSIDE of the United States. Tariffs will go on external product on April 2nd. Have fun!” he said.
The stock market took a hit after Trump’s announcements on tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down over 700 points after Trump’s announcement.
The president also suggested on Monday that the 10 percent tariffs on China could increase to 20 percent. When Trump delayed the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, he had imposed a 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports over the issue of fentanyl production and China responded with retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.
