Trump Indicates Canada, Mexico Tariffs Will Take Effect Next Week

President Donald Trump indicated on Monday that he intends to go ahead with plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian and Mexican goods beginning early next week.

“The tariffs are going forward on time, on schedule,” Trump said at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, who is in Washington for talks on Ukraine and other matters.

Trump has threatened to impose a 25 percent tariffs on the two North American neighbors in order to pressure them to do more to stop undocumented migrants and fentanyl from entering the United States. The duties were originally scheduled to go into effect on Feb. 4, but Trump delayed them for 30 days after talking by phone with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

With the new deadline looming on March 4, Trump was asked by a reporter on Monday whether either Canada or Mexico had done enough to stop the duties from going into effect.

“We're on time with the tariffs, and it seems like that's moving along very rapidly,” Trump responded. “We've been mistreated very badly by many countries, not just Canada and Mexico.”

However, it was not entirely clear whether Trump was referring specifically to his threat to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico over the immigration and fentanyl concerns or more generically to his threat to impose “reciprocal tariffs” on countries all around the world, based on the Trump administration's belief that the United States is being treated unfairly. Trump has said those duties could begin in early April.

In support of the second interpretation, Trump did not mention fentanyl and migration concerns in his response and harped instead on the need for tariff reciprocity. “All we want is reciprocal. We want reciprocity. We want the same," he said.

But given the ambiguity, Trump's statement exerts pressure on Canada and Mexico to do more to address his concerns in the coming week.

Trump spoke with Trudeau Saturday and discussed the northern border, among other issues. According to the White House read out, Trudeau “informed President Trump that Canada has enforced a 90 percent reduction in fentanyl crossing the U.S. Northern Border, and that the Canadian Border Czar would be in the United States next week for meetings with his American counterpart.”

Together, Mexico and Canada account for more than $900 billion worth of U.S. imports, including many cars and auto parts as well as agricultural products.

Both countries have said they would retaliate if Trump follows through on his threat. In one concession to inflation concerns, Trump has said energy imports from Canada would face a lower 10 percent tariff.