USMCA -conforms were no longer subject to the US tariffs in Canada after President Donald Trump issued a break today that comes into force until at least April 2, 2025.
For those who are not familiar with the acronym, USMCA is the trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada. It came into force in 2020 and replaced what was previously known as North American Free Trade (NAFTA).
The agreement was concluded to offer more options for trading between the three countries and, according to the website of the US government, “North American workers, farmers, cattle breeders and companies” to offer each other.
Today's update means that the United States will no longer bring 25 percent tariffs into the country for many Canadian goods. The USA will not pause the 10 percent tariffs on Canadian oil and other energy that are not covered under the USMCA. The Canadian potash is also subject to 10 percent tariffs.
However, the USMCA does not cover the entire trade between the two countries. This means that 25 percent tariffs for Canadian goods are still entering the United States that are not covered under the agreement.
According to civil servants, 62 percent of imports from Canada in the USA are not in accordance with USMCA and are still subject to 25 percent tariffs.
According to reports, it is unlikely that this week will be reimbursed for Canadian goods paid to the United States.
Technically speaking, the break will not be effective on Friday, March 7th, at 12:01 p.m.
In response to today's announcement, Canada confirmed that the tariffs that came into force this week in the amount of $ 30 billion will remain in Canada. However, Finance Minister Dominic Leblanc said that the second tariff wave for $ 125 billion will not be effective before April 2.
The Prime Minister of Ontario, Doug Ford, also denied that the province will not trace its countermeasures, which means that American alcohol products in the LCBO still remain on the shelves and that Ontario will continue on electricity on March 10.
The only thing that is safe today is more uncertainty. A break in some tariffs means nothing. We will be relentless until President Trump finally eliminates the threat from tariffs. pic.twitter.com/fuhgpwohmh
– Doug Ford (@fordnation) March 6, 2025
In turn, the United States have not removed tariffs that they recently used for goods from China. These will stay on the spot. There are also global tariffs for aluminum and steel that could still come into force on March 12th.
In a press conference from today's White House, Trump also suggested that the United States would try to reduce its dependence on Canadian wood.
Trump: “We do not need Canada's wood. So I will sign a guide line -up that free our forests so that we can take trees and earn a lot of money and then reject trees in the harvest … We don't need anything from Canada.” pic.twitter.com/iguvc7ok9k
– Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 6, 2025
USMCA is also known as Cusma in Canada.