By Ryan King. Media: Nypost
President Trump signed twin executive orders on Thursday to pause tariffs for one month on imports that are subject to a pre-existing trade agreement he brokered during his last term in the Oval Office.
Roughly 38% of imports from Canada and 50% from Mexico are subject to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and will not face the 25% across-the-board tariff Trump has implemented until April 2, according to a White House official.
While the president downplayed the corporate reaction to his tariffs, markets have been rattled by Trump’s suit of tariffs, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 428 points, Nasdaq dropping 484 points and the S&P 500 falling 104 as of 4 p.m. EST.

Trump announced he was pausing the tariffs while signing executive orders.
Getty Images
“I’m not even looking at the market,” Trump said Thursday, insisting that wasn’t a factor in his decision.
“A lot of them are globalist … companies that won’t be doing as well because we’re taking back things that have been taken from us years ago,” he added. “We’ve been treated very unfairly.”
The partial walkback follows discussions Trump had with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday.
A teary-eyed Trudeau, 53, assured his country Thursday, “I am here to tell you all that we got you.” Trump has repeatedly mocked the outgoing Canadian PM and accused him of dragging his feet on a deal due to a desire to prolong his stint atop the Labor Party, which is set to conclude at the end of the month.
On Tuesday, Trump, 78, slapped broad, across-the-board tariffs on Canada and Mexico after the US neighbors failed to meet his demands to crack down on the flow of fentanyl and illegal immigrants into the US. He first issued those demands in November.
Combined with the 20% tariff Trump has slapped against China, the levies initially applied to about $1.5 trillion in annual imports. The three countries are the largest US trading partners.
Trump agreed Wednesday to exempt automobiles from the across-the-board tariffs after the three largest US automakers complained about the toll of the levies on their supply chains.
Canadian energy has also been subject to a lower 10% tariff.
Before signing the executive orders, Trump had revealed earlier in the day on Truth Social that he spoke with Sheinbaum and intended to exempt trade with Mexico subject to USMCA from the tariff.

AP
“I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum. Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl,” Trump said.
It is not immediately clear whether Trudeau or Sheinbaum agreed to make additional concessions to Trump.
Trump has justified the tariffs based on his ultimatum that Canada, China and Mexico crack down on fentanyl and that the two American neighbors curb illegal immigrants, though he has also long-extoled the use of tariffs generally.
The president is expected to pursue another round of tariffs on April 2, targeting countries that have duties on American exports. That reciprocal tariff is expected to impact Japan, the European Union and others.
The 45th president signed off on the USMCA in 2018 as a revamp of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Discussion about this post