'We're going to get decapitalized really quick': Distributor voices concerns over Trump's tariffs

(CNN) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed executive actions that delay for nearly one month tariffs on all products from Mexico and Canada that are covered by the USMCA free trade treaty, a significant walkback of the administration’s signature economic plan that has rattled markets, businesses and consumers.

The executive actions follow a discussion Trump held Thursday with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and negotiations between Canadian and Trump administration officials.

“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 Thursday, after a phone conversation with the Mexican president. He said the tariffs would be delayed until April 2. The USMCA is the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, negotiated by Trump during his first term, that makes the three North American countries a free trade zone.

“I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum. Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl,” Trump added. “Thank you to President Sheinbaum for your hard work and cooperation!”

Sheinbaum, in a post on X, thanked US President Donald Trump for a “respectful” discussion about the tariffs he imposed.

Sheinbaum said that “virtually all” of Mexico’s trade with the United States is included in the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

“Practically all the trade we have with the United States is within the Mexico, United States, Canada Agreement. There is a part that has to do with rules of origin, but everything is practically within the trade agreement,” Sheinbaum said at a news conference Thursday.

However, a White House official on a call with the press added some nuance to that argument: About 50% of imports from Mexico and 36% of imports from Canada are covered under the agreement, the official said, but many more items – such as avocados – are generally not covered because of the high cost of of compliance. However, those items that technically are not in compliance with USMCA have in effect been treated at customs as if they were, or they weren’t subject to tariffs.

It’s complicated trade policy, and the White House official suggested those goods producers could register to comply with USMCA rules to avoid the 25% tariff for a month. But the official referred the press to the US Trade Representative for more details about which products will maintain the 25% tariff and which won’t once those details become available.

Included in the USMCA-compliant goods are autos, which Trump announced Wednesday would be subject to a one-month reprieve from the tariffs. The administration said the delay would give automakers time to move more production to the United States to avoid tariffs, which are now set to go into effect next month. But that is almost certain not to happen, because that would mark a significant undertaking, requiring massive hiring, investment and strategic planning.

Energy from Canada, however, is not included in the USMCA, the White House official said. So that lower 10% tariff is expected to remain in place, boosting gas prices in the Northeast United States. But the Trump administration temporarily on Thursday reduced the tariff on Canadian potash to 10% (from the 25% tariff imposed Tuesday) to give farmers a bit of a break.

Complications with Canada

Trump has frequently praised Sheinbaum, and on Thursday she said she informed him that there was a dramatic reduction in the amount of fentanyl seized at the US border with Mexico in February from January, crediting increased border controls between the two countries. Sheinbaum also said Thursday that, with the pause in effect, she will not announce previously planned retaliatory measures against the US tariffs.

However, Trump has sharply criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whom he accused of trying to capitalize politically on the tariff angst Canadians have felt. It was notable that Trump initially announced a reprieve for Mexico but not Canada, although he eventually granted one for Canada, too.

“Believe it or not, despite the terrible job he’s done for Canada, I think that Justin Trudeau is using the Tariff problem, which he has largely caused, in order to run again for Prime Minister,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “So much fun to watch!”

Trudeau has been equally and publicly critical of Trump, and he said in a press conference Thursday that he expects Canada and the US to be in a trade war for the foreseeable future.

And Trudeau said that all his country’s retaliatory measures would remain in place unless the United States completely rolls back its tariffs, not just temporarily.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday his province is implementing a 25% tariff on electricity exports to 1.5 million Americans’ homes in Minnesota, Michigan and New York next week.

“It really bothers me we have to do this,” Ford said. “Let’s just drop these tariffs. Let’s renegotiate the USMCA deal that he created. It hasn’t changed since he was in office, and he said it was the greatest deal ever.”

Ford threatened on Monday to cut off Ontario energy exports to the United States “with a smile on my face” if US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods remained in place.

Canada will now pause their planned second round of tariffs on over 4,000 US goods until April 2, Canadian Minister of Finance Dominic LeBlanc said in a post on social media.

With the US suspension of tariffs on USMCA-compliant goods, LeBlanc wrote, “Canada will not proceed with the second wave of tariffs on $125B of U.S. products until April 2nd, while we continue to work for the removal of all tariffs.”

Stocks tumble

Stocks fell sharply Thursday and remained lower after Trump initially failed to announce a reprieve for Canada. But stocks pared some of their losses after the executive actions were signed. The Dow closed about 427 points lower, or 1%. The broader S&P 500 fell 1.8% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was 2.6% lower.

The market is in the red during Trump’s presidency in part because of the uncertainty the administration’s trade policy has caused. The Nasdaq has fallen nearly 8% since Trump took office, and is down 10% from its December peak, ending Thursday in correction territory. The S&P 500 is down more than 4% since Trump’s inauguration. Businesses have paused hiring, consumer confidence has plunged and investors have shifted out of stocks and into safe havens like government bonds.

“The fact that the stock market goes up or down a half percent every day is not the driver of our outcomes,” said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in a statement. “Our outcomes are driven by: We want factory production in America, we want employment to blossom in America, we want to train for the new AI industrial revolution to happen in America, we’re going to bring factories back to America.”

During an Oval Office signing ceremony, Trump blamed “globalists” for the recent market decline.

“I think it’s globalists who see how rich our country is going to be and they don’t like it,” Trump said. “It’s a big market out there. But again they’ve been ripping off this country for years, and they’re going to do great, but we can’t let this continue to happen to American any more. Otherwise we’re not going to have a country any more.”

Trump in his joint address to Congress Tuesday night acknowledged that tariffs are unpopular and could cause some pain, particularly by raising prices on an already inflation-weary American public. In one of his more vulnerable moments during the speech, Trump pleaded for patience, asking farmers who could be hurt by retaliatory tariffs to “bear with me” and said “there will be a little disturbance.”

Mexico, China and Canada are the United States’ top three trading partners. Collectively, they shipped $1.4 trillion worth of goods to the US last year, according to Commerce Department data. That accounts for more than 40% of the value of all goods the US imported last year.

A trade war among the three nations poses significant risks to all three economies, threatening to dampen growth, raise prices and cost workers their jobs.

On again, off again

The back and forth on tariffs alone is causing confusion. Trump has routinely threatened or briefly put in place tariffs only to announce delays or pauses, leaving Corporate America unclear on how to invest and whether to hire.

Trump campaigned on steep tariffs on Day One. Instead, he signed several executive actions on his first day in office ordering his administration to investigate whether to pursue tariffs on a wide range of goods. In a signing ceremony, Trump announced that 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico would be coming February 1.

But those tariffs were delayed — first by a few days and then by a month after both countries sent delegations to negotiate on illegal border crossings and fentanyl.

Promised tariffs on China went into place February 4 — but not at the 60% level Trump had promised in December. The 10% tariffs came with a surprising twist: The elimination of the de minimis exclusion, a loophole that allows goods valued at less than $800 to come over the border duty-free. Those packages are numerous and onerous for customs officials to scan for tariffs.

The next day, the US Postal Service stopped all package deliveries from China from entering the United States because it was unable to abide by the new trade policy. But hours later, the de minimis exclusion was back on — temporarily — until the Commerce Department could determine how to police it.

Then, Trump promised a “big one,” as he called it: reciprocal tariffs — matching foreign countries’ tariffs dollar for dollar. Instead, the plan, as it were, which Trump announced in the Oval Office on February 13 to much fanfare, consisted of a vaguely worded memo that offered few concrete details and no real timeframe for those tariffs to kick in. Eventually the timeframe — April 2 — became clearer, but the tariffs that would be applied and the countries that would be subjected to the reciprocal tariffs remain somewhat of a mystery. Trump has floated autos, copper, microchips, pharmaceuticals and lumber, but specifics remain sparse.

Trump also announced steel and aluminum tariffs that are set to go into place March 12. But they don’t represent a significant increase over what was already in place.

After the latest tariffs on Mexico and Canada went into effect Tuesday, stocks fell sharply. Trump — who has long fixated on how his policies perform in the markets — and his team were paying close attention to the market on Tuesday, a source familiar with the discussions told CNN. On Wednesday, Trump paused the tariffs on autos coming from Mexico and Canada for a month.

And now today, they’re all off. Until at least April 2. Maybe.

This story has been updated with additional context and developments.

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