President Trump said on Wednesday that he would arouse prices on cars from the United States from Canada and Mexico for a month, after a 25% rate he has placed on the trade partners closest to America one day earlier, the reel of the stock markets and caused strong industry resistance.
Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary of the White House, read a declaration from Mr. Trump on Wednesday saying that the White House had spoken with the three largest car manufacturers and that one month’s exemption would be given to cars that would occur by the American-channel agreement.
“At the request of the companies associated with the USMCA, the president gives them an exemption for a month so that they are not economic disadvantage,” the statement said. The three car manufacturers with which Trump spoke were General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis.
When he was asked why Trump only granted a month-long stay, Ms. Leavitt said the president expected car manufacturers to put production in the United States. The message, she said, was to “access it, starting to invest, starting to move, moving production here in the United States of America where they will not pay any price.”
The stay was a demonstration of the random approach that Trump adopted in commercial policy, the president announcing, stopping and then proceeding with a deeply influential policy for the North American economy in a few weeks. The decision was made after Mr. Trump organized a conference on Tuesday a conference call with Mary T. Barra, general manager of General Motors; John Elkann, president of Stellantis; William C. Ford, president of Ford Motor; And Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, according to a person informed of the call.
The leaders told the President that putting prices on the cars and parts of Canada and Mexico would effectively erase all the benefits of their companies by imposing billions of dollars of new costs, said the person. They said that cars built in these countries have supported jobs in the United States in parts, dealers and other related companies.
They said they had invested in factories in North America because they were provided by Alena and USMCA, the Trump trade agreement negotiated with Canada and Mexico during its first mandate, that the continent would be a free trade area, said the person. Suddenly changing the rules of this area would have devastating consequences.
The leaders of the three companies said they would not oppose prices imposed on cars imported from outside North America, the person said. In addition to Canada and Mexico, the United States is a large number of cars in Japan, South Korea and Germany.
We did not know what the reprieve means for car manufacturers, like BMW, which makes cars in Mexico but are not entirely in line with the terms of the commercial treaty. BMW is currently paying a rate of 2.5% to import vehicles from a factory to San Luis Potosí, Mexico. BMW also manufactures cars in Spartanburg, SC, which is one of the largest factories in the German company.
Trump said the samples aimed at bringing Canada and Mexico to stop drug flows and migrants across the American border. But after months of threats, he chose to put the prices in force this week, even after Canada and Mexico are committed to devoting more resources to the border and drug trade.
The leaders of Mexico and Canada called on Trump to abandon the prices, saying that they are unfair and unjustified.
But Trump refused to offer a wider reprieve in Canada, despite new openings by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trump wrote on social networks that he had spoken with Mr. Trudeau and that he was still not convinced that Canada had done enough to stop the fentanyl flow above the border.
On Truth Social, Mr. Trump wrote that he had told Mr. Trudeau that “many people died of fentanyl who went through the borders of Canada and Mexico, and nothing convinced me that he has stopped.”
The president added: “He said it was improving, but I said:” It’s not good enough. “”
Data show that a small amount of fentanyl arrives in the United States in Canada, and Canadians have shown themselves to affirm that they are an important source of drugs for the United States.
On Tuesday, Canada asked for consultations with the United States from the World Trade Organization on prices, saying that they had violated the promises that the United States had taken at the WTO
Vice-president JD Vance and Howard Lutnick, trade secretary, were on the call with Mr. Trump and Mr. Trudeau. The discussion lasted 50 minutes, said a senior Canadian official, adding that the president has provided access to the Canadian dairy market for American producers.
Mr. Lunick and the Minister of Finance of Canada, Dominic Leblanc, will continue the conversation throughout the day to find a compromise of de -escalation. Trudeau is not ready to raise Canada’s reprisal prices on American goods, said the manager, but is open to examining the reduction or suppression of selective prices if the United States decides to withdraw or reduce prices on specific Canadian products. The manager spoke under the cover of anonymity because they were not authorized to inform the press of the current negotiations.
During a press conference on Wednesday, President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico repeated with challenge several times: “We will not submit.”
Ms. Sheinbaum said she had a call with Mr. Trump scheduled for Thursday, but had no update or information on Mr. Lutnick’s claims on a change in prices. She said that if prices remained in place, the Mexican government would announce reprisal measures on Sunday, when she also called a demonstration in Mexico City.
“Between all of us, we must defend our sovereignty,” she said.
Ms. Sheinbaum also said that in response to prices, her government was already dealing with new commercial partnerships, especially with Canada and Chile.
“We will seek to have more agreements and partnerships with other countries,” she said.
Trump’s decision to impose a 25% rate on most Canada products and all Mexico products, as well as an additional 10% rate at all imports from China, bass the stock markets on Tuesday worldwide, before certain industries are recovered somewhat.
The actions of certain car manufacturers rebounded Wednesday in the hope that Mr. Trump would reduce his prices on Canada and Mexico. General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis Rose. Most car manufacturers are counting on factories and suppliers of these countries for cars and parts and cannot easily or quickly move production to the United States.
A stay of a month will not do much to resolve the longer-term exposure of the industry to the Trump’s prices parade. They include steel and aluminum rates that come into force on March 12 and “reciprocal” samples that Trump plans to impose on April 2.
But that can give automakers a chance to store cars and parts manufactured in Mexico and Canada and blurs the impact if the prices come into effect later.
Kevin Roberts, director of economic and market information at Cargurus, an online vehicle purchasing site, said it was not realistic to expect car manufacturers to move their factories in the United States in a month.
“The automotive industry is so global and so strongly interconnected, you will not be able to change a large production in a month,” said Roberts.
A 25% price would add almost $ 12,000 to the average price of a car from Canada, estimated Mr. Roberts and $ 10,000 at the average price of a car imported from Mexico.
Annie Correal,, Matina Stevis-Gridneff,, Vikas Bajaj And NEAL E. BOUDETTE Contributed reports.
