US delays tariffs on Canada, Mexico as border security efforts ramp up

Days after announcing a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, President Donald Trump agreed to delay the tariffs for one month after Canada and Mexico’s leaders took steps to increase security at their borders.

This move effectively postponed tariffs that could have raised prices for US consumers and hurt the economies of both countries, Caliber.Az reports, citing US media.

On February 3 afternoon, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shared on social media that Canada would allocate $1.3 billion to strengthen its border with new helicopters, technology, and personnel, alongside additional resources to curb the flow of fentanyl. Canada made this border and immigration investment announcement late last year.

Trump responded on social media, focusing on fentanyl and stating that the tariffs would be "paused for a 30-day period to see whether or not a final Economic deal with Canada can be structured."

Earlier that day, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also posted on social media that Mexico would immediately bolster its northern border with 10,000 members of its national guard to combat drug trafficking, especially fentanyl, entering the United States from Mexico.

In his own post, Trump reiterated that the US would continue negotiations with Mexico on border security, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

The tariffs, set to apply to nearly all goods entering the US from Canada and Mexico, risked triggering a trade war with two of America's closest trading partners. The tariffs could have led to higher prices for US consumers on a variety of products, such as cars, fresh produce, homebuilding materials, and gasoline.

Trump also imposed a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports and moved to close a loophole allowing Chinese e-commerce companies like Temu and Shein to avoid tariffs by shipping packages worth less than $800 into the US duty-free. These tariffs took effect on February 4 at 12:01 a.m. ET.

In response, China announced plans to challenge the tariffs at the World Trade Organization and take unspecified “countermeasures.”

Stocks initially fell on February 3 morning following the tariff announcement over the weekend but rebounded after the agreement with Mexico was reached. The US imports more goods from Mexico than any other country, and economists and business groups have warned that the tariffs could raise prices in the US and slow economic growth.

During his first term, Trump had also threatened to impose tariffs on Mexico, only to back down less than two weeks later after Mexico pledged to deploy its national guard throughout the country to crack down on immigration and expand a program that required some asylum-seeking migrants to wait for their immigration court hearings in Mexico.

Trudeau had announced on February 1 night that Canada would retaliate against Trump’s tariffs with its own 25% tariff on $155 billion worth of US goods. This would include immediate tariffs on $30 billion of goods, starting on February 4, the same day the US was set to begin collecting tariffs on Canadian imports.

By Tamilla Hasanova