President Trump said on Wednesday he would pause tariffs on cars coming into America from Canada and Mexico for a period of one month, after a 25 percent tariff that he placed on America’s closest trading partners a day earlier roiled stock markets and caused pushback from industry.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, read a statement from Mr. Trump saying that White House had spoken with the three largest auto makers, and that a one-month exemption would be given to cars coming in through United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Additional trade-related tariffs that may affect the auto industry will still go into effect on April 2, Ms. Leavitt said. But “at the request of the companies associated with U.S.M.C.A., the president is giving them an exemption for one month so they are not at an economic disadvantage,” the statement said. The three automakers that Mr. Trump spoke with were General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis.
Asked why Mr. Trump granted only a one-month reprieve, Ms. Leavitt said the president expected the automakers to move production back to the United States. The message, she said was to “get on it, shift production here to America where they will pay no tariffs,” she said.
The president declined to offer a broader reprieve to Canada, despite overtures by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Mr. Trump wrote on social media that he had talked with Mr. Trudeau and was still not convinced that Canada had done enough to stop the flow of fentanyl over the border.
On Truth Social, Mr. Trump wrote that he had told Mr. Trudeau that “many people have died from Fentanyl that came through the Borders of Canada and Mexico, and nothing has convinced me that it has stopped.”
The president added: “He said that it’s gotten better, but I said, ‘That’s not good enough.’”
Data shows only a small amount of fentanyl comes into the United States through Canada, and Canadians have bristled at assertion that they are a significant source of drugs for the United States.
Vice President JD Vance and Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, were on the call with Mr. Trump and Mr. Trudeau. The discussion lasted 50 minutes, a senior Canadian official said, adding that the president brought up access to the Canadian dairy market for U.S. producers.
Mr. Lutnick and Canada’s finance minister, Dominic LeBlanc, will continue the conversation throughout the day to find a de-escalatory compromise. Mr. Trudeau is not prepared to lift Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, the official said, but is open to considering selective tariff reduction or removal if the U.S. decides to remove or lower tariffs on specific Canadian goods. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the press on the ongoing negotiations.
Mr. Trump’s move to impose a 25 percent tariff on most products from Canada and all products from Mexico, as well as an additional 10 percent tariff on all imports from China, caused stock markets to plummet globally Tuesday, before shares for some industries recovered somewhat.
Shares of some automakers bounced back on Wednesday on hopes that Mr. Trump would scale back his tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Most carmakers rely on factories and suppliers in those countries for cars and parts and cannot easily or quickly shift production to the United States.
Mr. Trump has said that the levies were aimed at getting Canada and Mexico to stop flows of drugs and migrants across the U.S. border. But after months of threats, he chose to put the tariffs into effect this week, even after Canada and Mexico pledged to devote more resources to policing the border and drug trade.
In a news conference Wednesday, President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico defiantly repeated several times, “we will not submit.”
Ms. Sheinbaum said she had a call with Mr. Trump scheduled for Thursday, but had no updates or information on Mr. Lutnick’s assertions about a change to the tariffs. She said that if tariffs remain in place, the Mexican government will announce retaliatory measures on Sunday, when it has also called a demonstration in Mexico City.
“Between us all, we have to defend our sovereignty,” she said.
Ms. Sheinbaum also said that, in response to the tariffs, her government was already conferring about new trade partnerships, including with Canada and Chile.
“We will look to have more agreements and partnerships with other countries,” she said.
Annie Correal, Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Vikas Bajaj contributed reporting.
