President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Thursday postponing tariffs for products arriving from Mexico and Canada that are covered by a North American trade pact by a month, while lowering the duty to be applied to potash imports.
“Anything that was covered under the [U.S.-Mexico-Canada] agreement is exempt from the 25% tariff,” until April 2, a White House official told Agri-Pulse, including potash. "There's still the 10% energy tariff," the official added, referring to the lower duty applied to Canadian energy exports.
The president has also decided to reduce the duty rate that will apply to Canadian potash not included in the USMCA to 10%, the official said. The text of the executive order, however, makes no mention of the April 2 deadline, and only includes language excluding USMCA-covered products from the duties and lowering the duties for non-covered potash to 10%. The White House official told Agri-Pulse however, that the president will reassess the exemption at that time.
"It's up to his discretion," the official said. "That's just when everything will be reconsidered."
A senior administration official told reporters in the Oval Office earlier in the day that the decision was to protect American farmers.
Veronica Nigh, senior economist at The Fertilizer Institute, agreed the move would "make a very positive difference for growers."
"It's certainly very welcome," she told Agri-Pulse.
Around 38% of U.S. imports from Canada are covered by the USMCA agreement, while roughly half of those from Mexico are eligible -- a senior administration official told reporters Thursday --including a slew of agricultural products like fresh fruits, vegetables and berries.
But the president stressed to reporters in the Oval Office Thursday that the pause is “short term” and reiterated that tariff adjustments on steel and aluminum will proceed as planned, along with reciprocal tariffs slated for next month.
“Canada charges us 250% for our milk product and other products, and a tremendous tariff with lumber and things,” Trump said.
The president has held calls with leaders from both Mexico and Canada in recent days.
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“After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday. The reprieve, he added, will last until April 2 – the day he has teased as a potential start date for new reciprocal tariffs.
The president cited ongoing U.S.-Mexican cooperation over border security as a reason for the delay.
The USMCA eliminated tariffs for nearly all U.S. goods imports from Mexico, including an array of agricultural products like dairy, tomatoes, oranges, wheat, some sugar and winter vegetables.
The announcement comes one day after the president said he would grant the auto industry a similar one-month reprieve, following discussions with the “Big Three” automakers.
Trump held a call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday, which the president said was “somewhat” friendly. The president took to Truth Social after the call to denounce Trudeau’s border security policies as “not good enough” and blame Canada’s border policies for fentanyl deaths in the U.S.
Canadian officials have denied the suggestion that the Canadian border is a major trafficking route for fentanyl.
Multiple lawmakers have been pushing the White House to exempt critical farm inputs from the tariffs over concerns they could lead to higher prices for U.S. farmers.
House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., told Agri-Pulse on Thursday that he has been speaking to “as many people as I possibly can” in the White House about the issue.
“I’ve just been making the point that, like we have the car industry and Canadian-produced oil that comes to the United States, and things like potash and fertilizer, are all in our strategic importance,” Thompson said.
On Thursday, Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., led 14 of her colleagues in writing to the president to express concerns over the impact of the tariffs on the farm economy.
“On top of shutting farmers out of critical export markets, these tariffs will drive up input costs,” the senators wrote.
Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley also told reporters this week that he was hoping for tariff exemptions for Canadian piglets, as well as potash.
Correction: This story was updated to better reflect the White House official's comments.
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