The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: US president Donald Trump’s imposition of 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico came into effect on March 4 despite promises by a Trump official of a delay. Canada has announced retaliation measures and Mexico has promised similar moves.
However, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox Business news that Trump could meet the countries “in the middle” by Wednesday. “I think he’s going to figure [something] out, you do more and I’ll meet you in the middle in some way,” Lutnick said.
Lutnick promised a compromise but not a pause.
US President Donald Trump had ordered a 30-day delay on the tariffs early last month.
Canada said it would match the US tariffs and Mexico has made a similar promise.
Among Canada’s retaliatory measures is the initial plan to impose tariffs on about C$30 billion ($20.6 billion) worth of goods from US exporters including orange juice, peanut butter, wine and coffee, and a second tranche on C$125 billion of products, including cars, trucks, steel and aluminium, which would come into effect in a few weeks, reported Bloomberg.
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico will respond with a list of products on March 9.
China is going to face an additional 10% tariff on its exports to the US starting March 4. The country is countering this by imposing a 10-15% tariff on imported US agricultural products.
The kick-off has triggered significant turmoil in global financial markets. European stock markets sank on Tuesday amid growing concerns that the EU will be next in line for Trump’s tariff plan, DW reported.
In response to Trump’s tariffs, meanwhile, Canada’s province of Ontario said it will place a 25% export tax on electricity it sends to 1.5 million homes in Minnesota, Michigan and New York.
As part of his campaign promise, the US president had ordered his officials to develop reciprocal tariffs on imports to the US, keeping to an “eye for an eye” campaign promise on matters of world trade.
India is not outside Trump’s tariff ambit. He had called India’s tariffs on US products ‘unfair’ during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the states earlier this month.
Note: This article was updated to note that the tariffs had taken effect.