Trump delays car tariffs on Canada and Mexico for one month

(Der Ratgeber) - The US under President Trump has granted an exemption on auto tariffs for Mexico 🇲🇽 and Canada 🇨🇦 for one month, as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Wednesday.

"We spoke with the Big Three auto dealers. We are going to give a one-month exemption on any autos coming through USMCA", Trump said in a statement Leavitt read during a White House briefing. Those dealers included Stellantis, Ford, and General Motors, which requested the call, she said.

"Reciprocal tariffs will still go into effect on April 2. But at the request of the companies associated with USMCA, the president is giving them an exemption for one month so they're not at an economic disadvantage."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt

Leavitt said that the companies should use that month to work toward the president's goals.

"He told them they should get on it, start investing, start moving. shift production here to the United States of America, where they will pay no tariff. That's the ultimate goal," she explained further.

Canada is not happy about the one-month auto tariff reprieve, as cars are the country's second biggest export to the US. These tarrifs could mean price increases as high as $12,000 in Canada and the US per vehicle.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that he and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are unwilling to accept any tariffs on Canada's goods. "We're on the same page, zero tariffs, and we are not going to budge," he told reporters in a briefing on Wednesday.

Trump's decision to postpone the start of the tariffs comes ahead of his plan for a global reciprocal tariffs policy, which is set to be announced on April 2. In his speech 💬 to Congress, the president announced that the US would tax every country that taxes them. As Leavitt told reporters, Trump won't consider exemptions on the pending reciprocal tariffs.

Leavitt explained how the president was just being frank and honest with the American people when he announced the tariffs were going to cause "a little disturbance" in his speech to Congress.

"The president told the truth, and he was realistic, and he level set with the American people," Leavitt said when asked how much the tariffs could cost the average American.

"I think, frankly, it's very refreshing, and everybody in this room should be very grateful that we have a president who tells the truth about the reality of the economic situation that we are in."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt

"The president is being frank and honest, and the American people elected this president to have monumental reform and change", she said.