Trump Says He Will Delay Mexico Tariffs on Goods Under USMCA

President Donald Trump said he will exempt Mexico from his new 25% tariffs on any goods and services that fall under the North American trade agreement known as USMCA, offering a reprieve for a major U.S. trading partner.

“This Agreement is until April 2nd,” Trump said in a social media post Thursday after speaking with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. “I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum.”

The decision came shortly after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Trump was weighing an exemption for both Mexican and Canadian goods under the agreement, saying he expected Trump to officially decide the scope of the delay on Thursday.

“If you lived under Donald Trump’s U.S., Mexico and Canada agreement, you will get a reprieve from the tariffs now. And if you do choose to go outside of that, you did so at your own risk, and today is when that reckoning comes,” Lutnick said in an interview with CNBC.

It’s not clear that Trump will extend the full USMCA pause to Canada, though he has already said he would exempt Canadian autos and auto parts that are imported under the trade deal. Whatever exemption is implemented is expected to last until April 2, when Trump expects to enact a fresh round of tariffs, including “reciprocal” duties on countries around the world and sector-specific ones, like on auto, pharmaceutical and semiconductor imports.

US equities fell as markets opened Thursday in New York, as Trump’s tariff plans continue to spook investors. Stocks trimmed some losses after Lutnick spoke, while WTI futures fell to session lows and the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar rallied.

Lutnick said both Mexico and Canada “offered us an enormous amount of work on fentanyl.” The president has tied the tariffs, as well as a 20% duty on China, to the flow of illicit fentanyl and migration into the U.S.

Trump earlier spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The US president previously offered a one-month exemption to automobiles covered by USMCA, and administration officials were considering exempting certain agricultural imports.

The development is the latest in a frenzied week that saw Trump apply across-the-board 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, with the exception of Canadian energy, which faced a 10% rate. He also doubled his recent tariff on China to 20% from 10%.

That sparked a furious pushback, including a round of retaliatory tariffs from Canada on US goods. The White House said Wednesday that it would give the automakers a one-month deferral on tariffs for USMCA-compliant cars and auto parts. Lutnick’s comments extend that to other sectors.

Top photo: Semi-trucks carrying new Toyota vehicles cross into the US at the Otay Mesa port of entry on the US-Mexico border in San Diego, California, on Feb. 14. Photographer: Sandy Huffaker/Bloomberg.