White House Announces 1-Month Tariff Delay for Automakers

Automakers will be exempted from tariffs on Canada and Mexico for one month. The request was made by the leaders of Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.

A car hauler heads to cross the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Canada and Detroit, Michigan on the first day of President Donald Trump's new 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico on March 4, 2025.

The Trump administration is giving automakers a one-month exemption on tariffs imposed on Mexico and Canada, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on March 5.

Leavitt announced the pause during a Wednesday press briefing after confirming that worldwide reciprocal tariffs would still go into effect early next month.

The decision came after the heads of Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis made the exemption request during a phone call with President Donald Trump.

“We spoke with the Big Three auto dealers. We are going to give a one-month exemption on any autos coming through USMCA,” she said, referring to the trade agreement between the United States, Mexico, and Canada. “Reciprocal tariffs will still go into effect on April 2.”

“But at the request of the companies associated with USMCA, the president is giving them an exemption for one month so they are not at an economic disadvantage.”

Many U.S. automakers rely on components that freely move across the border throughout the manufacturing process, even with cars that are considered American-made.

The move underscores the Trump administration’s efforts to establish more automobile factories in the United States, which has been one of the president’s long-term priorities. Providing a month-long delay could give the companies more time to move investments and production back into the United States.

Several U.S.-based automakers campaigned against Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada, arguing that the import taxes could increase car prices immediately due to the frequency with which components move across the border during manufacturing and assembly.

On Tuesday, the United Auto Workers Union, which represents factory employees at the three big U.S. automakers, said it was in “active negotiations” with the Trump administration “to shape the auto tariffs in April to benefit the working class.”

“We want to see serious action that will incentivize companies to change their behavior, reinvest in America, and stop cheating the American worker, the American consumer, and the American taxpayer,” the union wrote in a statement.

In a pair of posts made to his Truth Social platform on March 5, Trump said he spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the upcoming tariffs and told him Canada wasn’t doing enough to stem the flow of fentanyl into the United States.

“Justin Trudeau, of Canada, called me to ask what could be done about Tariffs,” Trump wrote. “I told him that many people have died from Fentanyl that came through the Borders of Canada and Mexico, and nothing has convinced me that it has stopped.”

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