Trump says Canada, Mexico tariffs ‘could go up’ over time

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President Donald Trump said tariffs on Mexico and Canada could go higher than a 25% rate imposed earlier this week, injecting further uncertainty into trade policies that have rattled markets and left businesses on edge.

Trump’s comments came in an interview that aired Friday, a day after he paused those tariffs until April 2 for Mexican and Canadian goods covered by the USMCA trade agreement he struck in his first term — a move that offered a brief reprieve for two major U.S. trading partners.

Asked in an interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo if businesses would receive more clarity on his trade strategy, Trump responded “I think so, but, you know, the tariffs could go up as time goes by, and they may go up and, you know, I don’t know if it’s predictability.”

Trump imposed the duties on Canada and Mexico earlier this week — along with doubling a levy on China to 20% — moves he said he was taking to pressure those countries to do more to stop the flow of illicit drugs and undocumented migrants across U.S. borders.

But after a market selloff and with some Republicans and leaders from the auto and agriculture industries expressing concerns about the economic fallout of the largest U.S. tariff increase in a century, Trump on Thursday signed orders paring back the tariffs until April 2.

On Friday, he reiterated his threat that Mexico and Canada will face reciprocal tariffs, along with other nations, as soon as April 2.

“April 2, it becomes all reciprocal. What they charge us, we charge them. It’s a big deal,” he said. “But this is short term, and I felt that for the good of the American carmakers and the USMCA.”