Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the tariffs that the president threatened over Canadian trade policies for dairy and lumber won't come this week, as the president had said two days earlier.
Canadians and New Englanders, brought together by the New England-Canada Business Council, expressed bewilderment at the trade war directed at Canada, but said that President Donald Trump's actions will not be easily overcome as the two countries start to talk about how to change the NAFTA successor agreement in its sunset review.
CBP has provided guidance on tariff updates related to executive orders that set an exemption for goods from Canada and Mexico that qualify for USMCA..
President Donald Trump told reporters that a 250% tariff on dairy products imported into Canada makes it impossible to sell U.S. dairy there, and that "a tremendously high tariff" on lumber in Canada also makes it impossible to export that product to Canada. He called U.S. exports to Canada in those two categories "almost nonexistent." He said he is going to set U.S. tariffs at the same levels.
The implementation of -- and seemingly abrupt reprieve from -- 10% to 25% duties on goods imported from Canada and Mexico is causing whiplash among customs brokers.
Given that more than half of imports from Canada and Mexico don't claim USMCA preferences, trade lawyers and customs experts are expecting a sharp and rapid increase in entries that claim the preference.
President Donald Trump is excluding Canadian and Mexican exports from 10% or 25% duties that began March 4, as long as those goods can qualify for USMCA benefits. The change starts at 12:01 a.m. March 7.
President Trump posted on social media: "After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement. This Agreement is until April 2nd. I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum. Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl. Thank you to President Sheinbaum for your hard work and cooperation!"
The President has amended the executive orders imposing 25% tariffs on all Mexican goods, 10% tariffs on Canadian energy and 25% tariffs on other Canadian imports so that any good that qualifies for USMCA preference will be able to avoid the tariff, the White House said.
An exemption for USMCA-qualifying goods from 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico will also take effect March 7, alongside the USMCA exemption for Canada, according to an executive order signed today by President Donald Trump. Like the Canada order, it also lowers the tariff for potash that doesn’t qualify for the USMCA exemption to 10%.