(Adnkronos) – Tomorrow is the new deadline for the imposition by the United States of Donald Trump of tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico, but the situation is described as “fluid” by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. “There will be tariffs for Mexico and Canada on Tuesday, exactly what they will be, let’s let the president and his team negotiate,” he said in an interview with Fox on Sunday.
The entry into force of 25% tariffs for neighboring countries, accused of letting migrants and drugs pass into the US, was suspended for a month on February 4th. Lutnick explained that the two countries “have done a lot” to meet Trump’s requests, and for this reason he describes the situation as “fluid”, words that seem to leave open the possibility of a new postponement or of duties lower than the threatened 25%.
At the beginning of February, however, 10% tariffs came into force for China, which provoked a response from China, and now threatens to add a further 10%. Canada, Mexico and China together account for over 40% of US imports, and the prospect of tariffs coming into force, “at levels not seen since the 1940s” as Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics recalls to the New York Times, is causing concern in the American business world.
Of particular concern are the possible measures for the two neighboring countries with which a zero-duty regime has been in force since the 1980s. “Raising tariffs from zero to 25% will be far more destructive to North America’s integrated supply chains than anything President Trump has done in his first term,” Bown stresses.
While this integration affects all sectors of American trade, it is the automotive sector that could bear the brunt of the impact, since Canada and Mexico account for almost half of US car imports and exports, a percentage that rises if we consider the components and parts of cars.
