Canada and Mexico Tariffs Will Start March 4, Trump Says

By Ryan Hanrahan

Reuters’ Jeff Mason, Andrea Shalal, and David Lawder reported that “U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said his proposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods will take effect on Tuesday, along with an extra 10% duty on Chinese imports because deadly drugs are still pouring into the U.S. from those countries.”

“The fresh China tariffs, in addition to the 10% tariff levied on February 4, coincide with the start of China’s annual parliamentary meetings on Wednesday, a setpiece political event where Beijing is expected to unveil its main economic priorities for 2025,” Mason, Shalal and Lawder reported. “…Trump told reporters in the Oval Office he decided to add the extra tariffs on China and stick to the Tuesday deadline for Canada and Mexico given what his administration sees as insufficient progress on curbing fentanyl flows into the country.”

“‘There are ongoing discussions with the Chinese, Mexico and Canada,’ a White House official told Reuters,” according to Mason, Shalal and Lawder’s reporting. “‘We’ve gotten a good handle on the migration issue, but there are still concerns on the other issue of fentanyl deaths.’”

The Associated Press’ Josh Boak and Fabiola Sanchez reported that “Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that she hoped to speak with Trump after the Cabinet-level meetings occurring in Washington this week. Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente was scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday afternoon. …Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country has invested more than 1 billion Canadian dollars to improve border security, adding that his government’s ministers and officials are also in Washington this week.”

Potential Tariff Impacts on U.S. Agricultural Trade

When the 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada were first implemented at the beginning of February, Progressive Farmer’s Chris Clayton reported that the tariffs would likely impact agricultural trade because Canada, Mexico, and China are “the three biggest markets for U.S. agricultural commodities.”

“For Canada and Mexico, the moves essentially scrap the U.S-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that Trump signed in his first term. That agreement lowered tariffs on products, including zero tariffs on most agricultural products flowing between the three countries,” Clayton reported. “Through November, U.S. agricultural sales to the three countries accounted for $75.9 billion for 2024.”

At the beginning of February, “Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced 25% retaliatory tariffs on more than $106 billion (150 billion Canadian dollars) in U.S. products. Initially, Canada will start with $20.6 billion (CA$30 billion) on Tuesday and bump it up to full tariffs by the end of the month,” Clayton reported. “…Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum had spoken about collaborating on their responses. The Wall Street Journal reported Mexico is considering ‘carousel retaliation’ that would shift to different products, but have political impact, including ‘hitting sectors such as agriculture that are likely to lobby Congress.’ Canada and Mexico also focused their tariffs on U.S. products coming from Republican states.”

Agri-Pulse’s Oliver Ward reported at the time that Canada’s retaliatory tariffs were targeting items such as “American ‘beer, wine and bourbon, fruits and fruit juices, including orange juice, along with vegetables.’”

Mexico’s retaliatory tariffs, Reuters’ David Alire Garcia and Ana Isabel Martinez reported at the time, were likely to be “5% to 20%, on pork, cheese, fresh produce, manufactured steel and aluminum, according to sources familiar with the matter.”

Tariffs Could Upend Cattle Trade

Reuters’ Ed White reported Thursday that “historically, cows, calves, breeding stock, slaughter animals and beef-in-boxes have flowed across the U.S.-Canada border as if it were not there. Canada imports many young cattle from the U.S., fattens them, slaughters them, then sends the meat back to the U.S. Tariffs would upend this process.”

“The U.S. cannot easily replace Canadian beef. It is already in a beef deficit and importing from as far away as Australia,” White reported. “Canadian beef fills in where there is not enough U.S. beef. Canada’s government-backed lender Farm Credit Canada would like farmers to expand their herds to grow the country’s beef industry, but says tariffs are discouraging ranchers.”

“Without looming tariffs, high meat prices may have encouraged some Canadian farmers to replenish their herds. Instead, prices are prompting many to cash out by sending all the animals they can, including aging cows and young female breeding stock, into the meat market,” White reported. “…Curtis Vander Heyden, who runs three feed lots with his two brothers in Alberta, estimates one truckload of fattened cattle would face a $28,000 bill due to tariffs. U.S. buyers will balk at the price jump, either refusing to pay more than they would for U.S. cattle, or just not buying Canadian animals at all, he thinks. But Vander Heyden wants to retain his workforce, so he is not reducing his cattle-feeding operations.”

Reciprocal and EU Tariffs Remain in the Works, Too

Boak and Sanchez reported that “Trump also campaigned on imposing broad tariffs, which he plans to launch on April 2 by resetting them to match the taxes that he determines are charged by other countries on American goods. ‘The April Second Reciprocal Tariff date will remain in full force and effect,’ Trump said as part of his new social media post.”

Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council “stressed that the reciprocal tariffs would be in addition to the ones being placed on Canada and Mexico,” Boak and Sanchez reported.

“Trump (also) indicated Wednesday that European countries would also face a 25% tariff as part of his reciprocal tariffs. He also wants separate tariffs on autos, computer chips and pharmaceutical drugs that would be levied in addition to the reciprocal tariffs,” Boak and Sanchez reported. “The president already announced that he’s removing the exemptions on his 2018 steel and aluminum tariffs, in addition to planning taxes on copper imports. The prospect of a broader trade conflict should other nations follow through with their own retaliatory tariffs is already spooking U.S. consumers, potentially undermining Trump’s promise to unleash stronger economic growth.”

Canada and Mexico Tariffs Will Start March 4, Trump Says was originally published by Farmdoc.