Citing agreement between the neighboring trading partners, the United States announced over the weekend that it will “indefinitely postpone” the five percent tariff set to target Mexican imports to the U.S. starting June 10.
In a series of tweets, the U.S. President stated that Mexico has provided an acceptable solution to “irregular migration” and the scheduled escalation in tariff action would be suspended.
For more than a week after the original action against Mexico was announced, U.S. importers held their breath as they waiting for news over whether or not the increased tariffs would go into effect on June 10th. Targeting all Mexican imports into the United States, goods would have been subject to a 5% increase in duty on June 10th, escalating to a 10% on July 1stand continue to increase by 5% every month until October, when it would reach 25% unless Mexico would take measures to prevent illegal immigration into the U.S. through the shared southern border.
The announcement brought much relief to importers and U.S. Customs & Border Protection officials, alike, who had yet to be provided instructions from the government on how to program their computers to process and collect the new increased duties.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) had recently sent letters to government officials, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, urging them to prevent the tariffs from going into effect due to the damage the tariffs could cause to U.S.-Mexico trade relations. In addition, Customs brokers outlaying duties on behalf of importers, and an increase in duty outlays could put financial strain on both importers and brokers, alike.
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