President Donald Trump said Thursday that goods from Mexico will temporarily be exempt from U.S. tariffs, but the president continued to press Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trump said goods from Mexico that fall under the existing United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement won't be subject to U.S. tariffs of 25%. The move comes days after Trump hit Mexico with short-lived tariffs for the second time since taking office in January.
"After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum."
Trump said he is working with Sheinbaum to stop illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking at the southern border. Fentanyl is a potent opioid responsible for most U.S. overdose deaths. Criminal cartels in Mexico smuggle illicit forms of fentanyl – often produced with chemicals from China – across U.S.-Mexico border, according to the DEA.
