O TARIFF, WHERE ART THOU?: The White House is hinting that Trump could still back off 25 percent tariffs set to hit Mexico and Canada tomorrow, fueling uncertainty over a plan that's straining ties with the U.S.' closest trading partners. One step back: Trump reiterated that those tariffs would come into force as scheduled in a Truth Social post last week: “We cannot allow this scourge [of drugs] to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled.” But in the days leading up to the Tuesday deadline, it’s become increasingly unclear how certain the promised tariffs really are. Trump and other White House officials have said discussions are ongoing, praising concessions by the countries, while also delivering a series of confounding and contradictory statements on the timeline of the tariffs. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Sunday said the tariffs are a “fluid situation.” “They have done a lot, so [Trump is] sort of thinking about right now how exactly he wants to play with Mexico and Canada,” he said during an interview with Fox News. “There are going to be tariffs on Tuesday on Mexico and Canada. Exactly what they are, we're going to leave that for the president and his team to negotiate,” Lutnick said. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said on Sunday that Mexico has offered to match U.S. curbs on China, suggesting this could help avoid the planned tariffs. He added that if Canada follows suit, it “would be a very good start.” Those tariffs could be imposed by Canada and Mexico “by Tuesday. Or maybe the tariff wall goes up, and then we see what happens from there,” Bessent told CBS News’ Margaret Brennan. Backing up: The remarks also come after Trump suggested he would delay the tariffs until April 2, which is the same date he vowed to impose reciprocal tariffs on all trading partners. That timeline, however, was quickly shot down by a White House official who spoke to Morning Trade. “They're both on schedule right now. It's just one of them could change based on negotiations,” the official told your host last week, referring to the tariffs on Mexico and Canada. North American view: Senior Mexican and Canadian officials are still working to defuse tensions and show that they are taking steps to address Trump’s concerns. “Canada is not an issue in terms of [being a] source of illegal fentanyl into the United States,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in London on Sunday. “But we all know the American administration will make its own choices in terms of tariffs,” he said. “We will continue to work to do everything we can to make sure that there are no tariffs on Tuesday.” Canadian Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, however, signaled the threats could have lasting damage on ties with Washington. He advised Canadians during a press conference on Sunday that regardless of what Trump does, “We can’t rely on him. And we can’t rely on the Americans anymore.” DE MINIMIS REVISED: Shortly before the new tariffs take effect, the Trump administration late Sunday evening also revised its executive orders to apply the de minimis trade provision to “covered articles” in Canada and Mexico. The amended orders state that the provision will be revoked once Commerce notifies Trump that "adequate systems are in place to fully and expeditiously process and collect tariff revenue," in a signal the administration lacks the infrastructure to quickly nullify the measure. Reminder: The de minimis trade provision allows the flow of goods worth $800 or less into the United States duty free and subjects those packages to less inspection. Trump reversed the decision to strip China's access to the provision last month, which is aggressively used by Chinese online retailers.
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