Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he thinks President Trump might consider tariff relief for Canada and Mexico in a compromise, and that an announcement may come Wednesday afternoon.
“The president is listening to the offers from Mexico and Canada. He’s thinking about trying to do something in the middle,” Lutnick said Wednesday on Bloomberg TV.
He added that he would be speaking with Trump about scaling back the 25 percent tariff on the neighboring countries and thinks “early this afternoon, or this afternoon, we expect to make an announcement.”
Lutnick’s comments come just a day after the tariff plan was implemented, igniting a trade war with the U.S. allies and sparking concern that prices will rise for Americans.
His comments walk back Trump’s confirmation that the tariffs would be in place to curb the flow of migration and fentanyl into the country.
Lutnick said he doesn’t believe the next plan will be the full 25 percent, but rather “somewhere in the middle because I think Mexico and Canada are trying their best.”
After Trump announced the tariffs shortly after taking office, he made a deal with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to pause the plan for a month to give them time to make adjustments at their U.S. borders. The levies officially went into effect on Tuesday, and both leaders said they planned tariffs of their own for the U.S.
Lutnick said international officials are “working hard” with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to aid the situation but reiterated a previous point he made that it’s not a trade war, but rather a “drug war.”
“So, what’s happened is, they’re showing us even more ways to stop the flow of fentanyl. The president is open-minded,” he said, adding. “There are going to be tariffs, let’s be clear.”
Lutnick’s remarks over the last several days point to the “fluid situation”. They differ from the president’s comments that showed strong support for the tariff plan to be implemented.
On Tuesday, the Commerce secretary said he spoke to Canadian and Mexican officials on the phone and both countries told him they will “do better.” He said he thought Trump would “working something out” with the two countries, but again noted that tariffs would happen, though they may be less than the original proposal.
