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President Donald Trump presides over a Cabinet meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. (Rapid Response 47 via X)

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President Donald Trump on Feb. 26 gave a series of apparently contradictory answers about his plans to enact tariffs on Canada and Mexico, as well as the European Union. Trump was asked during a Cabinet meeting whether he planned to move forward on imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on March 4.

Trump announced the levies earlier this month, but then subsequently agreed to a monthlong delay after leaders from both countries agreed to stricter border control measures. But that delay is set to expire next week.

“I’m not stopping the tariffs,” Trump said, before describing how he believed the U.S. had been victim to years of mistreatment by his neighbors.

But Trump later said that the Mexico and Canada tariffs would be implemented on April 2. It wasn’t clear if the president meant that he was giving the countries additional time, or had conflated the Canada and Mexico tariffs with a separate program, under development by the Commerce Department and U.S. trade representative, that would impose so-called reciprocal tariffs on nations across the world.

.: "We've lost millions of people due to fentanyl. It comes mostly from China, but it comes through Mexico, and it comes through Canada. I have to tell you that on April 2nd, the tariffs go on... and I think you're going to see something that's going to be amazing." — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47)

The president’s comments on the timing of tariffs have at times confounded global markets, as he has spoken about several of his tariff plans at the same time in response to reporters’ questions. Mexico’s peso and Canada’s dollar got a boost Feb. 26 after Trump’s comments that appeared to indicate he was pushing back the tariff deadline on both countries’ imports.

Trump and other administration officials have previously given contradictory answers about whether the 25% Mexico and Canada tariffs would be on top of the so-called reciprocal tariffs, which are pegged to tariff and non-tariff barriers imposed on U.S. goods, or incorporated into the program set to hit in April.

“The tariffs go on, not all of them, but a lot of them,” Trump said of the April deadline. “And I think you’re going to see something that’s going to be amazing.”

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick interjected to say Canada and Mexico were given a 30-day reprieve to prove they were successfully stopping the flow of migrants and fentanyl into the U.S., and “if they have” then Trump would “give them a pause or he won’t.”

“It’s going to be hard to satisfy,” Trump added, suggesting again that the North America tariffs could hit next week.

Trump was also asked later about if he had decided on a specific tariff for the European Union. The president said those duties would be 25%, but then launched into remarks about tariffs on automobiles and other topics.

In addition to his Canada and Mexico tariffs and worldwide reciprocal tariffs, Trump has previously promised sectoral tariffs on imports of lumber, automobiles, semiconductors, and drugs, among other goods. It again was not clear if Trump was referencing those tariffs — which he has previously said would be at the 25% level — or an additional tax on EU goods.

Trump did say he viewed the EU as “a different kind of case” from other situations because he viewed the group as having been “formed in order to screw the United States.”

“They’ve really taken advantage of us in a different way,” Trump said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request to clarify the president’s trade remarks.