The tariffs planned by President Donald Trump on Friday touched off a feverish bout of activity among trade partners as key details remained unclear and nations didn’t know the taxes their goods could face — keeping an element of surprise to an event long hyped by the U.S. leader.
Just hours before the deadline, Trump on Thursday said he would enter a 90-day negotiating period with Mexico over trade as 25% tariff rates stay in place, providing a bit of clarity to a massive rewiring of the global economy that will require the president to sign a new executive order.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that his phone conversation with Mexican leader Claudia Sheinbaum was “very successful in that, more and more, we are getting to know and understand each other.”
The Republican president had threatened tariffs of 30% on goods from Mexico in a July letter, something that Sheinbaum said Mexico gets to stave off for the next three months.
“We avoided the tariff increase announced for tomorrow and we got 90 days to build a long-term agreement through dialogue,” Sheinbaum wrote on X.
The leaders’ morning call came at a moment of pressure and uncertainty for the world economy. As Trump’s deadline loomed, nations were scrambling to finalize the outlines of trade frameworks so he would not simply impose higher tariff rates that could upend economies and governments.
Trump reached a deal with South Korea on Wednesday, and earlier with the European Union, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. His commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” that there were agreements with Cambodia and Thailand after they had agreed to a ceasefire to their border conflict.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump “at some point this afternoon or later this evening” will sign an order to impose new rates starting at 12:01 a.m. EDT Friday. Countries that have not received a prior letter from Trump or negotiated a framework will be notified of their likely tariff rates, either by letter or executive order, she said.
Among those uncertain about their trade status were wealthy Switzerland and Norway.
Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg said it was “completely uncertain” whether a deal would be completed before Trump’s deadline.
But even the public announcement of a deal can offer scant reassurance for an American trading partner.
EU officials are waiting to complete a crucial document outlining how the framework to tax imported autos and other goods from the 27-member state bloc would operate. Trump had announced a deal Sunday while he was in Scotland.
“The U.S. has made these commitments. Now it’s up to the U.S. to implement them. The ball is in their court,” EU commission spokesman Olof Gill said. The document would not be legally binding.
Trump said as part of the agreement with Mexico that goods imported into the U.S. would continue to face a 25% tariff that he has ostensibly linked to fentanyl trafficking. He said autos would face a 25% tariff, while copper, aluminum and steel would be taxed at 50% during the negotiating period.
He said Mexico would end its “Non Tariff Trade Barriers,” but he didn’t provide specifics.
Some goods continue to be protected from the tariffs by the 2020 U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which Trump negotiated during his first term.
But Trump appeared to have soured on that deal, which is up for renegotiation next year. One of his first significant moves as president was to tariff goods from both Mexico and Canada earlier this year.
U.S. Census Bureau figures show that the U.S. ran a $171.5 billion trade imbalance with Mexico last year. That means the U.S. bought more goods from Mexico than it sold to the country.
The imbalance with Mexico has grown in the aftermath of the USMCA as it was only $63.3 billion in 2016, the year before Trump started his first term in office.
Besides addressing fentanyl trafficking, Trump has made it a goal to close the trade gap.
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Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
