Washington DC [US], February 27 : US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday at his first Cabinet meeting that the drop in illegal border crossings into the United States since he took office is "not stopping" him from levying 25 per cent tariffs on all Mexican and Canadian goods the US imports, CNN reported.
"We've lost millions of people due to fentanyl. It comes mostly from China, but it comes through Mexico, and it comes through Canada. I have to tell you that on April 2nd, the tariffs go on...and I think you're going to see something that's going to be amazing," he said.
This comes as a 30-day pause on those tariffs, which Trump tied to illegal border crossings and the flow of fentanyl into the US, is set to expire on March 4.
However, speaking at his first Cabinet meeting, Trump said those tariffs would come on April 2, the deadline his administration has set for an announcement on retaliatory tariffs for all other countries, as per CNN.
"April 2nd for everything," Trump said in response to a reporter's question seeking clarification on when the Mexico and Canada tariffs will go into effect, CNN reported.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick then said, "We have the fentanyl-related pause," referring to the pending tariffs Trump threatened to impose on Mexico and Canada. "They have to prove to the president that they've satisfied him to that regard. If they have, he'll give them a pause," he said.
Under free-trade agreements between the United States, Canada and Mexico, automakers have operated for decades as if North America is a single market, with parts and vehicles moving freely across borders during the assembly process. No automaker has dropped plans to build plants in Canada or Mexico or other countries yet because of the threat of tariffs, although Tesla, run by Trump ally Elon Musk, has not moved ahead with its previously stated plans for a plant in Mexico, as per CNN.
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