Source: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / Getty
tariff standoff with
Canada and
Mexico is on hold, with observers noting his agreement to deal with both contains elements that were already in place.
On Monday
evening (February 3), President Donald Trump announced that he and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had agreed to pause tariffs coming into each other’s nations after the two spoke by phone. In a post on his Truth Social media platform, Trump wrote: “Canada has agreed to ensure we have a secure Northern Border, and to finally end the deadly scourge of drugs like Fentanyl that have been pouring into our Country, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, while destroying their families and communities all across our Country,” adding “I am very pleased with this initial outcome, and the Tariffs announced on Saturday will be paused for a 30 day period to see whether or not a final Economic deal with Canada can be structured.” Trump reached a similar pause agreement with Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president.
News of the pauses brought relief to the financial markets and American consumers who were stressed over the economic hit they would suffer if the tariffs went through. The only problem? Trump has agreed to deals on security measures that were mostly already in effect with both nations.
Concerning his deal with Canada, Trudeau announced that Canada was already implementing a border security force worth $1.3 billion to “ensure 24/7 eyes on the border”. According to journalist Mehdi Hasan in a post on X, formerly Twitter, “Trump got played again. Canada *already* has 8,500 frontline personnel at the border.” Trudeau and former President Joe Biden had struck a similar deal in
December 2024 before Biden left office. Canada had also begun patrolling the border between it and the United States with Blackhawk helicopters and committed to a “fentanyl czar” and joint task force operations.
https://x.com/mehdirhasan/status/1886534635288715571
Trump and Sheinbaum came to their agreement earlier on Monday, three days after he announced the 25% tariffs to be placed on goods from both countries entering the United States, in addition to a 10% tariff on goods entering the country from China. While Sheinbaum promised that she would immediately send 10,000 soldiers to the border to prevent the trafficking of fentanyl, she announced in her press conference that Trump agreed to do more to prevent high-powered weapons from the U.S. from falling into the hands of drug cartels. There are already 15,000 Mexican soldiers stationed at the border with America.
