President Donald Trump, once again, postponed tariffs on most goods imported from Canada and Mexico.
Under the latest supply chain shakeup, several goods under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement—including automotive products—are exempt from Trump’s wide-ranging 25% tariffs for at least one month.
The moves are additional disruptions to a chaotic tariff rollout, which has clouded business decision-making.
USMCA exemptions
Under two executive orders on Thursday, Trump dictated that his tariffs would not affect many goods under the North American trade agreement for one month.
Trump first announced on Truth Social that Mexico’s USMCA goods would be exempt from tariffs until April 2. A few hours later, his executive orders exempted both Mexico’s and Canada’s USMCA goods for an undisclosed period.
See also: How to build a fleet future during times of uncertainty
The order exempts explicitly imported items defined as “free of duty” by General Note 11; Chapter 98, Subchapter 13; and Chapter 99, Subchapter 12 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. The order also reduces tariffs on potash, a good primarily produced by Canada for fertilizer, from 25% to 10%.
According to NBC News, the exemptions apply to about half of goods imported from Mexico and 38% of goods from Canada.
Automotive exemptions
On Wednesday, Trump announced he would pause tariffs on USMCA-compliant automotive products until April 2.
Thursday’s executive orders would allow exemptions for automotive products defined as “duty free” by General Note 11, which includes a framework for defining automotive goods and their regional value content requirements. The framework includes heavy-duty commercial trucks, temporarily sparing truck prices.
