The new 25 percent tariffs imposed by president Trump on the import of goods from Mexico and Canada may soon be subject to changes. This was announced last night by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, at the end of a rather complex day marked by the second negative close of the stock markets.
According to Lutnick’s statements, tariffs will be reduced immediately, probably as early as in the next few hours. Although the cabinet secretary did not specify what Trump had agreed to, he suggested that the U.S. president would be willing to meet with Canada and Mexico “halfway.”
The MAGA leader had decided to approve the 25 percent tariffs on goods from the two countries as “punishment” because, in his view, neither of the neighboring nations would commit to fighting drug trafficking and illegal immigration.
“Both the Mexicans and the Canadians have been on the phone with me all day today, trying to show that they’ll do better,” Lutnick said Tuesday afternoon. “And the President is listening because, you know, he’s very, very fair and very reasonable. So I think he’s going to work something out with them.”
He also spoke of a possible new agreement, expected to be announced later today, by which Canada and Mexico will make a greater commitment to combat the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants to the U.S., in exchange for lower tariffs.
Presumably the newly imposed high tariffs had provoked a harsh reaction from the countries involved, including China. In particular, the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, had announced that he would in turn promote 25 percent tariffs on U.S. imports, explaining: “Our tariffs will remain in place until the U.S. trade action is withdrawn, and should U.S. tariffs not cease, we are in active and ongoing discussions with provinces and territories to pursue several non-tariff measures. While we urge the U.S. administration to reconsider their tariffs, Canada remains firm in standing up for our economy, our jobs, our workers, and for a fair deal.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, on the other hand, said the government will announce its countermeasures to the Trumpian tariffs on Sunday. Now, it remains to be seen whether the plan announced by Lutnick will in any way restrain the two neighboring nations from taking trade action against the US.
No pact will be formulated instead, at least in the coming hours, with China, another nation affected by Trump’s tariffs. Indeed, the president has decided to promote 20 percent tariffs on goods from the Asian country.
Beijing’s reaction was not long in coming. The local government announced the adoption of 15 percent duties on the import of some U.S. goods, such as poultry, wheat, cotton and corn.
