Is There Still Uncertainty about Trump's Tariffs? The US Commerce Secretary Hints: The Tariff Rate on Canada and Mexico May Be Less than 25%

On Thursday, February 27, US President Donald Trump announced that the US plan to impose tariffs on Mexico and Canada would proceed as scheduled. That is to say, the United States will impose a 25% tariff on the two countries on March 4.

 

However, on Sunday (Eastern Time in the United States), US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made a different statement to the public, seemingly suggesting that there is still room for a turn in the situation.

 

Lutnick said that the tariffs on Canada and Mexico will indeed take effect on Tuesday (March 4), but President Trump will decide whether to stick to the planned tariff rate of 25%.

 

Lutnick said, "The current situation is very unstable. We will impose tariffs on Mexico and Canada on Tuesday. But as for what the specific tariffs will be, we will leave it to the president and his team to negotiate."

 

Lutnick's remarks are the first time that a high-ranking US official has hinted to the outside world that the Trump administration may not impose a 25% tariff on all goods from Canada and Mexico as originally announced (among them, the tariff rate on Canadian energy products is 10%).

 

Lutnick also said that although fentanyl continues to flow into the United States, the two countries, Mexico and Canada, are "doing a good job" in protecting the border with the United States.

 

Judging from the recent statements of the Trump administration to the outside world, its team seems to be somewhat confused about the direction of the tariff policy.

 

On February 1 (Eastern Time in the United States), Trump signed an executive order announcing that he would impose a 25% tariff on products imported from Mexico and Canada, with a 10% tariff increase on Canadian energy products. Two days later, he set the effective date of the relevant tariff measures for March 4.

 

However, on Wednesday last week (Eastern Time in the United States), when Trump talked about the tariff issue regarding Canada and Mexico, he first said that it would be implemented on April 2. But a day later, he changed his tune and said that the proposed tariffs originally scheduled to take effect on March 4 would indeed take effect as planned on March 4.