U.S. tariffs on Canada still coming Tuesday, but it may not be 25%: Lutnick

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday that tariffs on Canada and Mexico are still coming, but that President Donald Trump would determine the level of the levies.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s commerce secretary said the tariffs on Canada and Mexico are still coming Tuesday, though he appeared to suggest there could be changes to the original 25 per cent plan.

Howard Lutnick said in an interview on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures that there would be tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting on the announced March 4 date, though Trump would determine at what levels.

“There are going to be tariffs on Tuesday on Mexico and Canada,” he said. “Exactly what they are, we’re going to leave that for the president and his team to negotiate.”

The secretary’s comments come just three days after the president said his threatened 25 per cent tariffs against both countries were going ahead as scheduled.

In a post on Thursday on his social media platform Truth Social , Trump reiterated his claim these tariffs were linked to the flow of fentanyl and migrants into the U.S. from both countries.

However, Lutnick told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo that Canada and Mexico had done a “reasonable job on the border.”

“The March 4th is about the border and both Mexico and Canada have done a reasonable job on the border, they’re both working hard on the border,” Lutnick said. “But the fentanyl continues to come into this country and continues to murder our people.

“They have done a lot, so he’s sort of thinking about right now how exactly he wants to play it with Mexico and Canada and that is a fluid situation.”