March 5
Trump grants a one-month exemption on his new tariffs impacting goods from Mexico and Canada for US automakers. The pause arrives after the president spoke with leaders of the “Big 3” automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.
March 6
In a wider extension, Trump postpones 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month. But he still plans to impose “reciprocal” tariffs starting on April 2.
Trump credited Sheinbaum with making progress on border security and drug smuggling as a reason for again pausing tariffs — and the Mexican president said in a post on X that she and Trump “had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed that our work and collaboration have yielded unprecedented results.”
Trump’s actions also thawed relations with Canada somewhat, although outrage and uncertainty over the trade war remains. Still, after its initial retaliatory tariffs of $30 billion Canadian (US$21 billion) on US goods, the government said it had suspended its second wave of retaliatory tariffs worth $125 billion Canadian (US$87 billion).
March 10
China retaliates against Trump’s tariffs by imposing additional 15% taxes on key American farm products, including chicken, pork, soybeans and beef. The escalating trade tensions push stocks lower on Monday as investors worry about the pain Trump’s trade wars risk inflicting on the American economy.
The Chinese tariffs were a response to Trump’s decision to double the levy on Chinese imports to 20% on March 4. China’s Commerce Ministry had earlier said that goods already in transit would be exempt from the retaliatory tariffs until April 12.
March 12
Trump increases tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%, removing exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on the metals in addition to increasing the tariffs on aluminum from 10%.
The European Union takes retaliatory trade action with new duties on US industrial and farm products. The measures will cover goods from the United States worth some 26 billion euros ($28 billion), and not just steel and aluminum products, but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods. Motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans will be hit, as they were during Trump’s first term.
March 13
Trump threatens a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned 50% tariff on American whiskey.
The European import tax, which was unveiled in response to steel and aluminum tariffs by the US administration, is expected to go into effect April 1, just ahead of separate reciprocal tariffs that Trump plans to place on the EU.
