Trump to decide on Canada, Mexico relief today, Lutnick says

President Donald Trump is set to announce changes to the tariffs on Canada and Mexico he slapped on earlier this week, with potential relief for automobiles and other sectors, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Wednesday.

"What he is thinking about is which sections of the market that can maybe — maybe he'll consider giving them relief," Lutnick said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. While some categories will be left with the 25% tariff hike, some will be left out. "It could well be autos, it could be others as well" that get relief, he said.

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Lutnick emphasized that the current tariff measures are related to the effort to curb the influx of the fentanyl drug, with a separate and broader set of trade actions coming next month. He suggested that the broader review, due April 2, could incorporate goods that get relief Thursday.

"There are going to be tariffs — let's be clear — but what he's thinking about is which sections of the market that maybe he'll consider giving them relief until we get to, of course, April 2," Lutnick said. "I think it is going to be in the middle somewhere."

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The announcement will come "this afternoon," he said. The administration will consider providing relief by lowering the levels of the tariffs for specific products that are compliant with regulations under the USMCA deal that Trump negotiated in his first term with Canada and Mexico, according to the Commerce chief.

Automakers climb

He added that his "understanding" is that the big-three U.S. automakers — Ford Motor, General Motors and the Stellantis-owned Chrysler brand — are compliant with USMCA rules.

Carmaker shares climbed after Lutnick's remarks, with GM rising more than 5% in pre-market trading in New York. Ford was up about 2% and Stellantis climbed about 7% in European trading. 

Lutnick dismissed recent economic data that some analysts said reflected a negative impact on business and consumer confidence from Trump's trade and other measures.

"You are looking at data that is Biden data," he said. Trump said during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night that former President Joe Biden left "an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare."

'Cavalry is coming'

U.S. manufacturing edged toward stagnation this month as orders and employment contracted, an Institute for Supply Management release showed on Monday. After Lutnick spoke, ADP Research reported that hiring at U.S. companies slowed in February to the slowest pace since July.

Lutnick pointed to recent announcements by companies including Apple and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing to invest billions of dollars in the U.S. as signs that Trump's policies are stoking confidence, rather than sowing uncertainty in the business community.

"You see the investments, there's trillions of dollars of manufacturing moving to America, that means the cavalry is coming," he said.