President Donald Trump announced on Monday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and his nominee for Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, will lead negotiations with Mexico during the month-long pause on freshly inked tariffs.
Trump reaffirmed his delegation while speaking with reporters at the White House after Mexican President Claudi Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 troops to the southern border to halt the flow of fentanyl. The agreement included a pause on the 25 percent tariff for imported goods from Mexico.
“We’re going to have Scott, Howard, and Marco… lead the delegation, and we’re going to have a big negotiation with Mexico,” Trump said.
“I’ll be involved too, and President Sheinbaum will be involved to see whether or not we can work something out on the tariffs,” he added.
When a reporter suggested that Mexico got “out” of the tariffs, Trump emphasized, “nobody’s out.”
“Is there any chance that Canada or China could also get out of their tariffs after you struck a deal with Mexico?” she asked.
“Well, nobody’s out,” Trump replied, adding his team “had a great talk with Mexico” before emphasizing a need to stop fentanyl and illegal aliens from entering the United States.
In addition to temporarily holding off on the Mexico tariffs he signed on Saturday, Trump also paused the 25 percent tariffs he signed on most Canadian goods for 30 days after coming to an agreement with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
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Canada will take a number of actions to prevent crime and drug flow at the northern border, noted Trump, who cited Trudeau in a Truth Social post:
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.
Canada will implement their $1.3 Billion Border plan, and as per Prime Minister Trudeau, will be, “reinforcing the Border with new choppers, technology and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl. Nearly 10,000 frontline personnel are, and will be, working on protecting the Border. In addition, Canada is making new commitments to appoint a Fentanyl Czar, we will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the Border, launch a Canada-U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering. I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl, and we will be backing it with $200 million.”
Trudeau responded by pausing Canada’s 25 percent tariffs on $155 billion worth of U.S. goods for 30 days. They were set to take effect on Tuesday.
“Proposed tariffs will be paused for at least 30 days while we work together,” he wrote in a post on X.
However, the ten percent tariffs on Chinese goods will still take effect at midnight on Tuesday. The trade actions against all three countries are in addition to any existing tariffs.
Moreover, the tariffs end the de minimis loophole for shipments valued at less than $800. Critics say this leads to precursor chemicals for fentanyl, primarily from China, entering the Western Hemisphere because de minimis shipments often go unchecked.
Trump told reporters Monday, “We’ll be speaking to China probably over the next 24 hours.”
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