Trump says he paused tariffs to 'help Mexico and Canada to a certain extent'
President Donald Trump sat down with Maria Bartiromo for Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," where he primarily discussed tariffs.
After his Thursday phone conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Trump announced on social media that he'd pause 25% tariffs on U.S. imports from Mexico and Canada that are covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. The reprieve lasts until at least April 2, when reciprocal tariffs on goods from a wider range of countries are set to go in place.
When asked Sunday why he'd roll back or put a pause on some of the tariffs until April 2, Trump said it was to help the automakers. "Because I wanted to help Mexico and Canada to a certain extent," Trump told Bartiromo. "I wanted to help the American car makers until April 2."
"April 2, it becomes all reciprocal. What they charge us, we charge them. It's a big deal, but what they charge us, we charge them. But this is short term, and I felt that for the good of the American carmakers and the [USMCA] ... I thought it would be a fair thing to do, and so I gave them a little bit of a break for this short period of time."
The president was pressed on what automakers would do in a month.
"It's a transition into April, and after that, I'm not doing this," Trump said. "I mean, I told them, I said, 'Look, I'm going to do it this one time. But after that, I'm not doing it.' They called me and they wanted help during this with the transition period, and I gave it to them."
Trump was then pressed on whether the business community will receive clarity from him.
"Well, I think so. But you know, the tariffs could go up as time goes by, and they may go up and, you know, I don't know if it's predictability,” Trump said, not offering insight on his rationale.
When asked by Bartiromo if he might change anything after reciprocal tariffs go into effect, Trump replied, in part: "We'll have a lot, but we may go up with some tariffs. It depends. We may go up. I don't think we'll go down, or we may go up."
-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh
