Vehicles that meet the USMCA rules of origin will be able to enter the U.S. duty-free again, for one month, two White House spokespeople said March 5.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the president asked her to tell reporters that after he spoke with Detroit's Big Three automakers: "We are going to give a one-month exemption on any autos coming through USMCA. 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 are not at an economic disadvantage."
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, when asked by a Bloomberg TV reporter if tariffs will be hiked on April 2, or if a process begins then, said "some tariffs will come on right away," while others could take three weeks, four weeks, or two months, depending on which law is being used.
President Donald Trump posted on social media on March 3, "To the Great Farmers of the United States: Get ready to start making a lot of agricultural product to be sold INSIDE of the United States. Tariffs will go on external product on April 2nd. Have fun!"
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From corporate giants to small companies, in farming, manufacturing and retail, Americans said tariffs on Canada and Mexico were damaging their businesses and driving up costs for customers.
Going from zero tariffs on most Canadian and Mexican imports to 25% convulsed Capitol Hill and foreign capitals, with some Republicans diverging from the president's protectionist message and Democrats universally using the action to attack Trump as the reason prices will go up.
Beijing is studying ways to retaliate against an increase to 20% in U.S. tariffs to address fentanyl smuggling (see 2502270037), state-run news outlet Global Times reported March 3. China's countermeasures likely will include a combination of tariffs and non-tariff measures, the report said, with American agricultural and food products likely to be targeted.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking on the Sunday CBS program "Face the Nation," said March 2 that "the big tariff program," or reciprocal tariffs, will be outlined on April 2. That report is going to show what other countries' tariffs are on specific goods, what non-tariff barriers have been identified, and what kind of currency manipulation, financing interventions or "labor manipulation" distorts international trade.
CBP created Harmonized System Update 2507 on Feb. 28, containing 678 Automated Broker Interface (ABI) records and 213 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records. HSU 2507 includes several PGA HTS flag updates as well as adjustments required by the verification of the 2025 Harmonized Tariff Schedule.