Description
President Donald Trump signed executive orders Thursday postponing 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month amid widespread fears of the economic fallout from a broader trade war.
Trump said in the Oval Office that he still plans to impose “reciprocal” tariffs starting April 2.
“Most of the tariffs go on April the second,” Trump said before signing the orders.
Imports from Mexico that comply with the 2020 USMCA trade pact will be excluded from the 25% tariffs for a month, according to the orders signed by Trump.
Imports from Canada — especially autos and auto parts — that comply with the trade deal will also avoid the 25% tariffs for a month. The potash that U.S. farmers import from Canada will be tariffed at 10%, the same rate at which Trump wants to tariff Canadian energy products.
Trump called the move a "short term" modification to avoid hurting the American car companies. He didn't expand on what happens when the tariffs go back into effect.
The president insisted his postponement of some tariffs had nothing to do with Wall Street's reaction this week, telling reporters, "I'm not even looking at the market."
Wall Street’s sell-off kicked back into gear on Thursday, and a U.S. stock market rattled by the whiplash created by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and uncertainty about the economy fell sharply.
The S&P 500 tumbled 1.8% to resume its slide after a mini-recovery from the prior day clawed back some of its sharp drop over recent weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 427 points, or 1%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 2.6% to finish more than 10% below its record set in December.