President Trump said Wednesday that he would stop tariffs on cars entering the United States from Canada and Mexico for a month, after a 25 percent tariff that placed in the closest commercial partners in the United States a day before dragged the stock markets and caused a strong resistance from the industry.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, read a statement by Mr. Trump on Wednesday saying that the White House had spoken with the three largest car manufacturers, and that there would be an exemption from one month to cars that enter through the United States-mexicocanada agreement.
“At the request of the companies associated with USMCA, the president is giving them an exemption for a month, so they are not at an economic disadvantage,” the statement said. The three automobile manufacturers with which Trump spoke were General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis.
When asked why Trump granted only a one -month respite, Mrs. Leavitt said the president hoped that car manufacturers would move the return production to the United States. The message, he said, was to “start investing, start moving, change the production here to the United States of America, where they will not pay tariffs.”
The postponement was a demonstration of the casual approach that Mr. Trump has led to commercial policy, with the president announcing, stopping and then proceeding with a policy that is deeply influential for the US economy in a matter of weeks. The decision came after Trump organized a telephone conference on Tuesday with Mary T. Barra, Executive Director of General Motors; John Elkann, president of Stellantis; William C. Ford, president of Ford Motor; and Jim Farley, executive director of Ford, according to an informed person about the call.
Executives told the president that putting tariffs on cars and the parts of Canada and Mexico would effectively erase all the profits of their companies by imposing billions of dollars of new costs, said the person. They affirmed that cars built in those countries supported jobs in the United States in parts, distributors and other related companies.
They said that they had invested in North America factories because they were insured by the NAFTA and the USMCA, the commercial agreement that Mr. Trump negotiated with Canada and Mexico in his first mandate, that the continent would be a free trade zone, the person said. Changing the rules of that area abruptly would have devastating consequences.
The executives of the three companies said they would not oppose tariffs that are imposed on cars imported from outside North America, the person said. In addition to Canada and Mexico, the United States imports a large number of cars from Japan, South Korea and Germany.
It was not clear what the respite means for car manufacturers, such as BMW, which manufacture cars in Mexico, but do not fully comply with the terms of the commercial treaty. Currently, BMW pays a 2.5 percent tariff to import vehicles from a factory in San Luis PotosÃ, Mexico. BMW also manufactures cars in Spartanburg, SC, which is one of the largest factories of the German company.
Trump has said that the taxes were aimed at that Canada and Mexico stop drugs of drugs and migrants on the border of the United States. But after months of threats, he chose to put the tariffs in force this week, even after Canada and Mexico promised to dedicate more resources to the surveillance of the border and drug trafficking.
The leaders of Mexico and Canada have asked Mr. Trump to leave tariffs, saying that they are unfair and unjustified.
But Mr. Trump refused to offer a broader respite to Canada, despite the new Oberturas of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trump wrote on social networks that he had spoken with Mr. Trudeau and that he was not yet convinced that Canada had done enough to stop the flow of fentanyl on the border.
In Truth Social, Mr. Trump wrote that he had told Mr. Trudeau that “many people have died of fentanil that came through the borders of Canada and Mexico, and nothing has convinced me that he has stopped.”
The president added: “He said he has improved, but said: ‘That is not good enough.”
The data show that only a small amount of fentanyl arrives in the United States through Canada, and Canadians have erred by stating that they are a significant source of drugs for the United States.
On Tuesday, Canada requested consultations with the United States in the World Trade Organization on Rates, saying that they violated the promises that the United States had done in the WTO
Vice President JD Vance and Howard Lutnick, the Secretary of Commerce, were in the call with Trump and Trudeau. The discussion lasted 50 minutes, said a senior Canadian official, added that the president brought access to the Canadian dairy market for US producers.
Mr. Lutnick and Canada’s Minister of Finance, Dominic Leblanc, will continue the conversation throughout the day to find a decalatory commitment. Mr. Trudeau is not prepared to lift Canada’s retaliation rates on US goods, said the official, but is open to consider the selective reduction or elimination of rates if the United States decides to eliminate or reduce tariffs on specific Canadian goods. The official spoke about anonymity because they were not authorized to inform the press about the ongoing negotiations.
At a press conference on Wednesday, President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico repeated challenging several times: “We will not present.”
Mrs. Sheinbaum said she had a call with Mr. Trump scheduled for Thursday, but had no updates or information about Mr. Lutnick’s claims about a change in tariffs. She said that if the tariffs remain in place, the Mexican government would announce retaliation measures on Sunday, when she has also called a demonstration in Mexico City.
“Among all, we have to defend our sovereignty,” he said.
Mrs. Sheinbaum also said that, in response to tariffs, her government was already conferring on new commercial associations, even with Canada and Chile.
“We will seek to have more agreements and associations with other countries,” he said.
The movement of Mr. Trump to impose a 25 percent rate on most of Canada’s products and all the products of Mexico, as well as an additional 10 percent tariff to all imports from China, caused the stock markets to collapse worldwide on Tuesday, before the actions for some industries recover a little.
The actions of some automobile manufacturers recovered on Wednesday in the hope that Trump will reduce their tariffs on Canada and Mexico. General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis rose. Most car manufacturers trust factories and suppliers in those countries for cars and parts and cannot easily or quickly transfer production to the United States.
A one -month respite will do little to solve the long -term exposure of the industry to the Trump tariff parade. They include steel and aluminum tariffs that take effect on March 12 and the “reciprocal” taxes that Trump plans to impose on April 2.
But you can give car manufacturers the opportunity to store cars and pieces made in Mexico and Canada and render the impact if tariffs enter into force later.
Kevin Roberts, director of Economic Intelligence and Market in Cargurus, a shopping site of vehicles online, said it was not realistic to expect automotive companies to move their factories to the United States in a month.
“The automotive industry is so global and very interconnected that it will not be able to change a lot of production in a month,” Roberts said.
A 25 percent tariff would add almost $ 12,000 to the average price of a car that comes from Canada, Mr. Roberts estimated, and $ 10,000 at the average price of an car imported from Mexico.
Annie Correal, Matina Stevis-Gridneff, Vikas Bajaj and Neal E. Boudette Contributed reports.
