President Donald Trump will “probably” announce tariff compromise deals with Canada and Mexico soon, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday.
The potential agreements would likely involve scaling back at least part of Trump’s brand new 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, he added.
Lutnick’s comments came minutes after the U.S. stock market limped to a close for a second day of sharp declines, spurred at least in part by investors’ fears that Trump’s aggressive policies will ignite a crippling trade war.
The compromise with Canada and Mexico will likely be revealed as soon as Wednesday, Lutnick said on “Fox Business.”
While the Cabinet secretary did not specify what Trump would agree to, he suggested the U.S. president would be willing to meet Canada and Mexico “in the middle.” He also appeared to foreclose on the possibility that Trump would lift the tariffs entirely.
The Trump administration on Tuesday reimposed sweeping 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports after putting them on pause for a month.
Trump, who has held up tariffs as an all-powerful negotiating tool, based the policy on allegations that the neighboring countries were failing to stem the flow of drugs and crime into the U.S.
“Both the Mexicans and the Canadians are on the phone with me all day today, trying to show that they’ll do better,” Lutnick said Tuesday afternoon.
“And the President is listening because, you know, he’s very, very fair and very reasonable. So I think he’s going to work something out with them,” he said.
Lutnick described a deal in which Canada and Mexico agree to “do more,” at which point Trump would “meet you in the middle some way.”
“We’re going to probably be announcing that tomorrow,” he said.
Lutnick said the announcement would not be another pause.
The comments came hours before Trump was set to deliver a primetime address to a joint session of Congress.