Photo: AFP
US President Donald Trump will postpone threatened tariffs on Canadian imports for at least 30 days, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said in a post on X.
Trump wanted to impose a 25 percent tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico, but on Tuesday announced he was suspending Mexico's for a month.
The Mexican President confirmed the news, saying 10,000 border troops will be deployed to try and stamp out drug trafficking.
In a statement on social media, Trudeau said a similar truce has been struck on the northern border.
He said Canada is implementing a $NZ1.6 billion border plan, including new helicopters, technology, targeted drug forces and ten-thousand frontline personnel.
I just had a good call with President Trump. Canada is implementing our $1.3 billion border plan — reinforcing the border with new choppers, technology and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl. Nearly…
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 3, 2025
"I just had a good call with President Trump. Canada is implementing our $1.3 billion border plan - reinforcing the border with new choppers, technology and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl, " he posted to X.
"Nearly 10,000 frontline personnel are and will be working on protecting the border.
"In addition, Canada is making new commitments to appoint a Fentanyl Czar, we will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, launch a Canada- U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering. I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl and we will be backing it with $200 million.
"Proposed tariffs will be paused for at least 30 days while we work together."
The US and Mexico will also use the month-long suspension to engage in further negotiations, Trump said on social media.
"I look forward to participating in those negotiations, with President Sheinbaum, as we attempt to achieve a 'deal' between our two Countries," he wrote on Truth Social.
"We have this month to work and convince each other that this is the best way forward," Sheinbaum said at a press conference.
The agreement came less than 48 hours after Trump announced sweeping tariffs on goods from the top three US trading partners, accounting for $3.7 trillion of annual commerce. The about-face was emblematic of the often chaotic nature of the early days of his second presidency.
Trump warned he might increase tariffs on Beijing beyond the 10 percent he imposed and that he would discuss the matter with the Chinese government's leadership in the next day or so.
"China hopefully is going to stop sending us fentanyl, and if they're not, the tariffs are going to go substantially higher," he said.
EU next target?
Trump suggested the 27-nation European Union would be his next target, but did not say when.
"They don't take our cars, they don't take our farm products. They take almost nothing and we take everything from them," he told reporters.
EU leaders at an informal summit in Brussels on Monday said Europe would be prepared to fight back if the US imposes tariffs, but also called for reason and negotiation. The US is the EU's largest trade and investment partner.
Trump hinted that Britain, which left the EU in 2020, might be spared tariffs, saying: "I think that one can be worked out".
Trump, who acknowledged over the weekend that the tariffs could cause some short-term pain for US consumers, nevertheless has argued the tariffs are needed to curb immigration and narcotics trafficking and spur domestic industries.
Trump's tariffs would cover almost half of all US imports and would require the United States to more than double its own manufacturing output to cover the gap - an unfeasible task in the near term, ING analysts wrote.
Other analysts said the tariffs could throw Canada and Mexico into recession and trigger "stagflation" - high inflation, stagnant growth and elevated unemployment - at home.
Reuters/RNZ
