U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would postpone a tariff hike on most Mexican imports after a telephone conversation with his counterpart, Claudia Sheinbaum. 

Last month, Trump said he would implement a 25% additional tariff on products from Canada and Mexico and an extra 10% on imports from China.

However, on Thursday, he said he would postpone the increase for Mexico’s imports falling under the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement until April 2. On that date, the U.S. government will still apply “reciprocal tariffs” worldwide, the same fee levels as those other countries charge.

“I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for President Sheinbaum,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns. He added that he has a good relationship with Sheinbaum and they both are working hard on border security “both in terms of stopping illegal aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl.” He also thanked the Mexican President for her “hard work and cooperation.”

Likewise, Sheinbaum thanked Trump, and said that they would continue to work together, “particularly on migration and security issues, which include reducing the illegal crossing of fentanyl into the United States, as well as weapons into Mexico.”

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick had hinted that a tariff relief was underway, saying that the tariffs on Mexican, Canadian, and Chinese goods were “about saving American lives from the flow of fentanyl coming across our borders.”

“This is not a trade war, this is a drug war, we got fentanyl still pouring into the country and it’s got to stop,” Lutnick told Bloomberg. “If they can stop the flow of fentanyl, the president is open-minded.”

On February 22, Argentine President Javier Milei announced that Argentina would like to be the “first country” to commit to the White House’s new reciprocal trade policy. On Monday, Trump indicated that he would consider signing a trade agreement with Argentina and referred to Milei as a “great leader.”

However, the U.S. special envoy for Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone, ruled out a free trade agreement between both countries, although he spoke of potential “fair and equitable trade agreements”.

“An investment promotion agreement is much more feasible than a free trade agreement,” he said in an interview with CNN.