Donald Trump has extended the deadline for a tariff deal with Mexico by another 90 days, fuelling speculation he could announce pauses for dozens of other countries that face punitive higher import duties from Friday.
As the countdown continues to his deadline for a trade deal – already extended by four weeks from the original 90 days – the US president said he had made the decision to offer more time to Mexico because of the complexities of the trading relationship.
He wrote on social media: “We will be talking to Mexico over the next 90 Days with the goal of signing a Trade Deal somewhere within the 90 Day period of time, or longer.”
A little more than two weeks ago Trump threatened the EU and Mexico with tariffs of 30% on most exports to the US from 1 August, but last Sunday he concluded a deal with Brussels with a 15% baseline rate from 1 August.
Mexico’s rate will now continue at 25% for another 90 days. Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump said: “I have just concluded a telephone conversation with the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, which was very successful in that, more and more, we are getting to know and understand each other.
“The complexities of a Deal with Mexico are somewhat different than other Nations because of both the problems, and assets, of the Border.
“We have agreed to extend, for a 90 Day period, the exact same Deal as we had for the last short period of time, namely, that Mexico will continue to pay a 25% Fentanyl Tariff, 25% Tariff on Cars, and 50% Tariff on Steel, Aluminum, and Copper.”
He said Mexico had agreed to “immediately terminate its Non Tariff Trade Barriers, of which there were many” although he did not specify which.
Non-tariff barriers can range from complex paperwork to trading standards and food regulations.
The extension may fuel more mockery that “Trump always chickens out” of his own deadlines, but after strong-arming leading economies including the EU and Japan into punitive tariff deals his threatening strategy seems to be paying off.
However, Trump faced a crunch court test on Thursday as US businesses and state leaders were expected to urge a federal appeals court to invalidate many of his tariffs on the eve of his self-imposed 1 August deadline for deals.
When Trump announced what he called “liberation day” on 2 April, he said he would impose punitive “reciprocal” tariffs on trading partners across the world in retribution for what he described as years of looting, pillaging and scavenging of the US.
By 31 July just seven countries or economic blocs had reached formal agreements with the White House: the UK, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, South Korea, Japan and the EU.
Dozens of other countries that have not signed a trade deal with the US are facing punitive tariffs from Friday including some of the world’s poorest such as Lesotho, Bangladesh and Nepal, and the world’s richest including Canada and Taiwan.
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China faces a separate deadline for its higher tariffs of 12 August, with an extension to the truce agreed in principle but yet to be approved by the White House.
The US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said on Thursday that a deal with Beijing was “close”, while Trump claimed last week that one with Australia was not far off.
Cambodia and Thailand were also in reach of a deal, according to the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, earlier this week.
Other large trading partners still in Trump’s crosshairs include Brazil, which has been threatened with a 50% tariff if it does not end what Trump contends is a “witch-hunt” agains its former president, Jair Bolsonaro; and Canada, which is facing a 35% tariff from Friday.
Earlier this week the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, said it was possible a trade deal might not be concluded by 1 August, but on Thursday Trump linked its chances of a deal to its position on Palestine.
He took to his social media platform just after midnight Washington time to say a deal could be scuppered.
“Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine,” he said on Truth Social. “That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them. Oh’ Canada!!!”