Washington, DC:
In a big warning to Canada and Mexico, US President Donald Trump said tariffs on the United States’ North American neighbours “could go up”, but stressed that businesses will have clarity on the issue after April 2, when his reciprocal taxes are set to be put in place.
In an interview that aired on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo,” Trump said reciprocal tariffs would go into effect on April 2 and the one-month reprieve granted to Mexico and Canada was a “little bit of a break.” He was also asked if the United States will have a recession in 2025, which he refused to predict.
“The tariffs could go up as time goes by, they may go up…This country has been ripped off from every nation in the world, every company in the world. We’ve been ripped off at levels never seen before, and what we’re going to do is get it back,” he said.
In February, Trump announced a 25 per cent duty on Mexican and Canadian goods covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The taxes were delayed for a month and imposed last Tuesday. However, a day later Trump decided to pause tariffs on automakers for another month. He again changed course on Thursday, pausing tariffs on goods from America’s two immediate neighbours covered by the free trade treaty until April.
“It’s a transition into April and after that, I’m not doing this. I told (automakers), ‘Look, I’m going to do it this one time,'” Trump said.
He went on to reiterate that more business and production should be done on American soil. “Build it here, there’s no tariff,” he said.
Amid American tariffs leading to trade tensions and signs of slowed growth, experts have warned that a recession could be looming on the North American economy. When asked if he was expecting a recession in 2025, the American President said, “I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we are doing is very big.”
He stressed that transition “takes a little time” and “it’s going to be great, ultimately, for the farmer.”
The President was also asked if his Administration has any plans to shrink the size of the federal government, a charge spearheaded by his billionaire adviser Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and if those cuts would affect defense spending for the time being.
Replying, Trump said he would “love” to cut defense spending, but will not do so “now.”
“You have China, you have Russia, you have a lot of problems out there,” he said, rueful that the government has to spend so much on nuclear weapons.