MEXICO CITY\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The presidents of Mexico and the United States said Thursday that punishing new tariffs on Mexican goods exported across the border would be put off for 90 days as the two nations continue negotiations on the contentious levies.<\/p>\n
Word of the reprieve came a day after South Korea announced<\/a> a trade pact with the U.S. and as countries worldwide scrambled to hammer out trade deals by Friday, the day President Trump said new tariffs would take effect.<\/p>\n It was the sole exception to a deadline Trump said would bring hefty rate hikes to other, major trading partners of the United States, including Brazil, Canada and India, among dozens of other nations that have thus far declined to enter framework trade agreements on strict terms set by the president.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, Trump wrote on social media: \u201cTHE AUGUST FIRST DEADLINE IS THE AUGUST FIRST DEADLINE \u2014 IT STANDS STRONG, AND WILL NOT BE EXTENDED.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News the same on Sunday: \u201cNo extensions, no more grace periods. Aug. 1, the tariffs are set, they\u2019ll go into place.\u201d <\/p>\n But that didn\u2019t happened, at least not in Mexico. The long-awaited announcement of a delay came after Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum had a morning telephone conversation, the latest in a series of phone calls in which the Mexican leader has urged her U.S. counterpart not to impose more tariffs on her nation \u2014 the United States\u2019 largest trading partner.<\/p>\n Trump called the phone conversation \u201cvery successful\u201d in a post on Truth Social, adding: \u201cMore and more, we are getting to know and understand each other.\u201d The two North American leaders have yet to meet in person. <\/p>\n In her morning news conference, a clearly relieved Sheinbaum cast the postponement as a major victory for Mexico. \u201cWe have 90 days to keep on talking with President Trump,\u201d declared a smiling Sheinbaum. \u201cIt was a very good agreement. We remain where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n In his comments, Trump said that many Mexican imports would continue to face a 25% tariff that the president has said is needed to force Mexico to cut down on smuggling of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid linked to tens of thousands of deaths in the United States. <\/p>\n While Trump held off on a planned 30% tariff on some Mexican imports, he declined to revise his existing tariff regimen, which Mexican officials view as egregious and harmful to the economy. Trump was firm that Washington would continue to charge the levies that he had already imposed \u2014 including the 25% \u201cfentanyl tariff.\u201d Mexican officials say their enforcement actions have resulted in a drastic drop in fentanyl trafficking.<\/p>\n Also to be retained, Trump said, would be a 25% tariff on auto imports and a 50% tax on imports from Mexico of steel, aluminum and copper. Mexico, Trump said, had agreed to \u201cimmediately terminate\u201d its non-tariff trade barriers. It was not immediately clear what policies he was referring to.<\/p>\n Mexican officials are seeking to reduce or eliminate Trump tariffs on a wide array of goods. Those include a 17% tariff imposed in mid-July on some $3 billion in annual tomato exports to the United States.<\/p>\n Sheinbaum said that her country\u2019s \u201ccool headed\u201d approach to negotiating with the U.S. had succeeded in holding off more crippling tariffs while also defending \u201cour principles with firmness.\u201d<\/p>\n Mexico had managed to negotiate a privileged position in the \u201cnew global commercial order\u201d launched by the Trump administration and his protectionist trade dictates, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have the best possible agreement, including when compared to other nations,\u201d Sheinbaum said. <\/p>\n This week Trump has continued to make tariffs a centerpiece of his foreign policy, using them to express his displeasure with allies as well as adversaries. On Wednesday, he said the U.S. would impose 25% tariffs on goods from India<\/a>. That same day he signed an executive order to place 50% tariffs on Brazil,<\/a> starting next week. <\/p>\n