President Donald Trump has delayed new tariffs set to go into effect on Mexico and Canada at midnight after speaking with both countries’ leaders on Monday and separately announcing he secured commitments to bolster border security.

“[S]he agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican Soldiers on the Border separating Mexico and the United States,” Trump wrote on Truth Social following a call with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. “These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country.”

During a conversation with Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later in the day, Trudeau pledged to reinforce the border with helicopters, technology and personnel, both leaders said. Both countries also agreed to stave off tariffs for 30 days. Mexico also secured a one month reprieve. 

Further, Trudeau said in a statement that “Canada is making new commitments to appoint a Fentanyl Czar, we will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, launch a Canada- U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering.”

Canada had already announced its $900 million plan to strengthen its border in December, after Trump made his initial tariff threat. The plans included an effort to helicopters, drones and mobile surveillance towers, among other technologies. 

Earlier on Monday a White House official told Agri-Pulse that there were “no updates” on the status of the tariffs on China set to go in place at midnight.

In a pair of Truth Social posts announcing the tariff pauses, Trump said that negotiations would continue to reach additional deals with both countries. In Canada’s case, he referred to the future agreement as “a final Economic deal.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio would spearhead negotiations with Mexico, Trump said, alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the, still unconfirmed, Howard Lutnick – Trump’s pick to lead the Commerce Department. Although the president did not specify what a deal might cover or involve.

In her own press conference on Monday morning, Sheinbaum said the two leaders spoke for more than 30 minutes on Monday morning about immigration, weapons and drug trafficking at the U.S. border. Trump’s statement, however, made no mention of weapons, which are often moved from the U.S. into Mexico.  

“Our teams will begin working today on two fronts: security and trade,” Sheinbaum said in a statement posted to social media.

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The U.S. agriculture community, which was staring down the barrel of Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on a slew of agriculture products from cucumbers to yogurt, welcomed the pause.  American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said that the bureau was "encouraged" following the announced pause on Mexico.

“[W]e appreciate the Administration making every effort to resolve these disputes, keep international markets accessible and ensure a stable food supply here at home," Duvall's statement reads. 

The eleventh-hour reprieve could prove particularly useful for fruit and vegetable exporters to Canada, as well as U.S. grain exporters.

Canada unveiled a C$155 billion package of retaliatory tariffs to phased in over the coming weeks – around $107 billion U.S. dollars’ worth. Dairy products, fruits, vegetables, prepared meats and a raft of other agricultural products were set for new duties.

Mexico is also an important export destination for U.S. grains and Mexican officials had vowed to retaliate to any tariff hikes. 

"They're one of the largest destinations, from an export standpoint, for corn and wheat, and they're a very large destination for soybeans," Angie Setzer, a partner at Consus Ag Consulting, told Agri-Pulse. 

Mexico imported more than $5 billion of corn and almost $2.8 billion of soybeans in 2023, according to USDA data. Both were the two largest ag export products. But it was also an important market for U.S. pork, poultry and dairy products. 

"We have a lot of businesses that have kind of built their overall market structure around having business going into Mexico," Setzer added. Setzer pointed out, however, that even with higher tariffs on U.S. products, Mexico may not have been able to immediately switch to alternate grain sources and might instead have opted to leave soybeans and corn out of any retaliatory package. 

"They can't just shut off U.S. corn trade and start buying it from Brazil. I mean, logistically they're not set up to handle huge amounts of water-borne imports," Setzer said. 

"Even if they can't necessarily diversify in a big way away from the U.S., to see us be able to negotiate and work something out to where, hopefully, over the next three to four weeks, we're able to kind of remove this as a worry, it would be a good thing," Setzer addded. 

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, R, had also warned Monday that tariffs on Canadian potash lead to higher costs for U.S. farmers. Canada is a major supplier of U.S. potash and U.S. buyers were already grappling with rising prices ahead of Saturday's tariff announcement.  

Accordingly, Grassley had appealed to the president to exempt fertilizer from the Canada tariff plans.

"[F]amily farmers get most of our potash from Canada," Grassley wrote in a post to X. "So I plead [with] President Trump to exempt potash from the tariff."