US President Donald Trump has stated via social media that he has decided to postpone the recently announced additional 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico.
Following the tariff announcements, Trump held conversations with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, in which he expressed his concerns regarding border security. The Canadian and Mexican administrations made various commitments to take concrete steps on this issue. In response, Trump gave the Canadian and Mexican administrations 30 days to continue negotiations on border security, while postponing the tariffs. In his statement, Trump did not mention China and or whether he established any dialogue with the Chinese administration. Thus, it is assumed that the announced 10 percent additional tariff on imports from China comes into force as of today, February 4.
As SteelOrbis reported previously, President Trump recently announced tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, citing national security concerns. In a swift response to Trump’s move, Canada and Mexico ordered retaliatory measures against the US.
Meanwhile, according to data released by the US Department of Commerce, US flat steel imports from Canada and Mexico in 2024 amounted to 3,887,226 mt and 986,034 mt, respectively, while US longs imports from Canada came to 1,279,389 mt, with the volume from Mexico totaling 689,908 mt. However, in 2024, the US exported 3,223,646 mt of hot dip galvanized sheets & strip, plates, hot rolled sheets, and heavy structural shapes to Canada, while exporting 4,055,363 mt of hot dip galvanized sheets & strip, plates, cold rolled sheets, hot rolled sheets, and plates in coils to Mexico.