After months of threats and sweeping declarations, President Donald Trump appears poised to soften his newly imposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Lutnick offered glimpses of potential concessions during multiple media appearances, at one point declaring that Trump could “figure out, you do more, and I’ll meet you in the middle some way.”
Despite the prospect of a rollback, officials in Ottawa and Mexico City have already staked out firm positions. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who slammed the tariffs as a “very dumb thing to do,” immediately responded with a 25% duty on billions of dollars’ worth of US goods.
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Canadian provinces are also responding back, with Ontario Premier Doug Ford leading the charge following his orders of stripping US liquor from store shelves, cancelling a multi-million-dollar satellite deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink, and threatening a 25% tax on electricity exports to US.
“We are not going to back down,” Ford said, warning of imminent factory shutdowns and job losses if the tariffs persist.
This wishy-washy back and forth on trade policies have rattled US businesses already frustrated by economic uncertainty. For instance, after announcing tariffs on auto and metals, the president introduced a temporary one-month exemption for US automakers—Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis—so they can “shift production here to the United States of America.”
While shares of the major carmakers briefly rallied on the news, it merely delays a reckoning until April 2, when the president plans to impose additional “reciprocal” tariffs.
In less than 24 hours, the Trump administration cited everything from stopping the flow of illegal drugs to closing trade deficits as justifications for the new levies. Lutnick himself declared, “You will see the greatest equity market, U.S. economy,” even as Wall Street convulsed with back-to-back days of deep sell-offs.
Farmers also find themselves caught in the crossfire. Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, warned that retaliatory duties from Canada, Mexico, and China would “take a toll on rural America,” potentially driving many producers into bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, tensions with China have escalated alongside the North American dispute. After the US hiked tariffs on Chinese imports to 20%, Beijing retaliated with new 15% duties on American farm goods and an expansion of restrictions on US companies.
“China will fight to the bitter end of any trade war,” a spokesperson from its foreign ministry declared. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded by saying the US is “prepared” for conflict.
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