Since taking office, President Donald Trump has threatened new tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico. Now, after a month-long delay, they’ve gone into effect. Most goods coming in from both countries now carry a 25% tariff.
Additionally on Tuesday morning, Trump signed an executive order increasing tariffs on imports from China to 20%, an increase from 10%.
The homebuilding industry, in particular, was bracing for the Canadian tariffs as roughly 25% of U.S. lumber comes from its northern neighbor.
“Tariffs on lumber and other building materials increase the cost of construction and discourage new development, and consumers end up paying for the tariffs in the form of higher home prices,” National Association of Home Builders Carl Harris previously said.
In February, homebuilder confidence slipped to its lowest level in five months.
Now, Canada and China are retaliating. On Tuesday, Beijing slapped additional tariffs ranging from 10% to 15% on multiple U.S. agricultural imports, including chicken, pork, soy and beef. These go into effect next week.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, meanwhile, said his country will immediately impose 25% tariffs on more than $20 billion worth of U.S. imports.
Canadian tariffs on an additional $86 billion worth of products will take effect later in the month.
“Our tariffs will remain in place until the U.S. tariffs are withdrawn, and not a moment sooner,” Trudeau said in a speech. He also called the tariffs “a very dumb thing to do,” emphasizing that they will negatively affect the economy in both countries.
“Americans will be paying more for groceries, for gas, for cars, for homes,” the prime minister said.
These changes come following a highly publicized tariff delay. Initially set to begin Feb. 1, on Feb. 3, Trump delayed the tariffs against both Canada and Mexico after reaching tentative agreements with the leaders of both countries, centered around ceasing border migration and the flow of drugs, particularly fentanyl.
Last week, Trump said he would further delay the tariffs until April 2. The next day, however, he announced March 4 was the new date for the tariff increases.
On March 2, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News that Trump was “sort of think-ing about right now how exactly he wants to play it with Mexico and Canada.” Lutnick called the situation “fluid.”
In the end, the administration stuck to its thrice-revised deadline. The tariffs took effect at 12:01 a.m. on March 4.