President Trump plans tariffs on Mexico and Canada
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday that tariffs on Canada and Mexico will go into effect on Tuesday, but that President Donald Trump will determine whether to stick with the planned 25% level. LiveNOW from FOX host Stephanie Coueignoux spoke to author, Sandra Swirski on the latest.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump announced that he will impose tariffs on overseas agricultural products, the latest in a series of sweeping trade threats.
“To the Great Farmers of the United States: Get ready to start making a lot of agricultural product to be sold INSIDE of the United States,” the president said on his social media platform Truth Social on Monday.
He added “Tariffs will go on external product on April 2nd. Have fun!”
Trump says he will impose tariffs on external agriculture products
What we know:
Trump claimed that the tariffs on farm products will go into effect on April 2.
What we don’t know:
It is unclear which products would specifically be affected, or if there would be any exceptions.
It’s also unknown whether he is referring to his intended “reciprocal” tariffs on U.S. trading partners that are on schedule to begin on April 2, as well.
Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 3, 2025. (Credit: ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)
Trump on Tariffs
The backstory:
President Donald Trump said Monday that 25% taxes on imports from Mexico and Canada would start Tuesday in the latest development of a possible burgeoning trade war among North American countries.
“Tomorrow — tariffs 25% on Canada and 25% on Mexico. And that’ll start,” Trump told reporters in the Roosevelt Room. “They’re going to have to have a tariff.”
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Pres. Trump plans tariffs on Mexico & Canada
President Trump will impose tariffs on Mexico and Canada on Tuesday. Trump posted on Truth Social, “Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels.
What are tariffs?
Dig deeper:
Tariffs are a tax on imports. Tariffs are typically charged as a percentage of the price a buyer pays a foreign seller. In the United States, tariffs are collected by Customs and Border Protection agents at 328 ports of entry across the country.
Trump has championed the tariffs as a punishment toward Mexico and Canada to better police fentanyl trafficking and stop illegal immigration. A secondary motivation he has said, is correcting the trade imbalance with hopes that corporations move factories back to the US.
The Trump administration also sees tariffs as a driver for corporations to re-invest in the US. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Monday that the large Taiwanese computer chipmaker TSMC had expanded its investment to the tune of $100 billion in the United States, because of the possibility of separate 25% tariff.