“We’re going to leave it for the president and his team to negotiate exactly what they are,” Howard Lutnick said.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutonic said tariffs on Mexico and Canada will resume as planned on March 2 on Tuesday, but the president will establish an accurate level.
President Donald Trump had previously pledged to impose a 25% tariff on both countries on March 4 after a previous suspension during negotiations on border security with the US. While speaking with Fox News on Sunday, Lutnick said Canada and Mexico “do a reasonable job” to secure both borders, saying Trump is deciding what the ultimate tariff level should be.
“He’s thinking about exactly what he wants to play with Mexico and Canada right now. It’s a fluid situation. There will be tariffs in Mexico and Canada on Tuesday. Just what they are, we’re going to leave it for the president and his team to negotiate,” he said.
The president is also expected to raise China’s tariffs from 10% to 20% on Tuesday. This is expected to resupply the country unless the country ends with a fentanyl precursor that was trafficked to the US by turning a supply country like Mexico into a deadly drug.
“We cannot allow this tragedy (of illegal drugs) to harm the United States, so it will actually come into effect, as is the tariffs scheduled to come into effect in March until it is stopped or a serious limit,” Trump wrote. “Similarly, China will be charged an additional 10% tariff on that day.”
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Canada and Mexico had previously secured a 30-day hiatus on tariffs after leaders from both countries agreed to strengthen border policies and lower the flow of drugs and illegal immigration to the United States.
Lutnick took on a month-long hiatus at the first cabinet meeting of the second term of the president on February 26th.
“The fentanyl-related stuff, if you’re working hard at the border, you have to prove to the president at the end of those 30 days that he’s satisfied him in that respect,” he said.
Trump suggested that it would be difficult for Mexico and Canada to meet the conditions for removing tariffs after the suspension ended Tuesday.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA), Canada supplies US oil imports (4 million barrels per day).
The president also said that increasing domestic energy production will be one of the main strategies to tame inflation in his administration.
Andrew Moran and John Haughey contributed to this report.
