Trump says tariffs on Canada, Mexico to take effect April 2 unless 'hard to satisfy' standards met

President Donald Trump took questions from the press following his administration's first cabinet meeting, where he provided updates on tariffs being implemented as well as ongoing efforts to combat the fentanyl epidemic.

One key topic was the 30-day pause on tariffs for Canada and Mexico, which Trump confirmed will go into effect on April 2. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick elaborated on the pause, explaining that “We have the fentanyl-related—there’s a pause, if they can prove to the president that they’ve done an excellent job, that’s what they first do in 30 days, but then the overall is April 2. So the big transaction is April 2, but the fentanyl-related things, they’re working hard on the border, at the end of that 30 days, they have to prove to the president that they’ve satisfied him to that regard. If they have, there’ll be a pause or he won’t.”

Trump expressed skepticism about the possibility of full satisfaction, remarking, “It’s going to be hard to satisfy.” He continued, “We lose 300,000 people a year to fentanyl. Not 100, not 95, not 60 like you read, you’ve been reading it for years. We lost, in my opinion, over the last couple of years, on average maybe close to 300,000 people. Dead.

"The families are ruined. When they lose a daughter, when they lose a son, the families are never the same. So tou’re talking about a million people. When the daughters die...when the sons die because of fentanyl, in some cases, they never even know they’ve taken it. They’re buying something else and it’s laced with fentanyl and they end up dying.

"I’ve known many people who’ve lost children to fentanyl and for other reasons… It’s such a big killer, those people are never the same people. I’ve seen people that, for the rest of their lives, are not the same people. They’re so different it’s not believable. Dynamic, happy people that die a miserable death. That’s because of the crap that comes in through China and through Mexico and through Canada. It comes, a lot of it, through Canada.”

The issue of fentanyl trafficking along the northern border with Canada has been a huge focus of the Trump administration and has forced Canada to respond. The DEA reported that the vast majority of fentanyl seized (98 percent) was intercepted at the southwest border with Mexico. Fewer than 1 percent of fentanyl seizures took place across the northern border with Canada, amounting to just about 43 pounds in 2024, compared to around 21,100 pounds seized at the southern border, says NPR.

In response to US concerns, Canada has taken steps to address the fentanyl crisis. Recently, the Canadian government appointed former RCMP officer Kevin Brosseau as the country’s new “fentanyl czar.” Brosseau will collaborate with US law enforcement to “accelerate Canada’s ongoing work to detect, disrupt and dismantle the fentanyl trade.”

A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office two weeks ago, emphasized, “The scourge of fentanyl must be wiped from the face of the Earth, its production must be shut down and its profiteers must be punished.”