US: Trump delays auto tariffs for a month

The US president revised the 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico a day after implementing them. Meanwhile, Canada filed a WTO complaint against the new US tariffs. Follow Ekwutosblog for more.

White House says autos exempt for one month from Canada, Mexico tariffs Canada challenges US tariffs at WTO US Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to withold $2 billion in foreign aid Greenland’s prime minister to Trump: ‘We are not for sale’

This blog on the developments from Donald Trump’s first weeks in office on Thursday, February 13, 2025

Board reinstates thousands of USDA workers fired by Trump

An independent US federal agency has ordered the US Department of Agriculture to temporarily reinstate thousands of workers laid off under President Trump’s administration.

The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) blocked the USDA from terminating probationary employees for 45 days. allowing the board to investigate the firings.

The decision, issued by board member Cathy Harris, comes a day after a federal judge prevented Trump from removing her from her position.

The move is seen as a significant obstacle to the Trump administration’s efforts to carry out mass layoffs.

Canada files WTO complaint over US tariffs

Canada has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against the United States.

Canadian Ambassador to the WTO, Nadia Theodore, said her government had “requested WTO consultations with the government of the United States regarding its unjustified tariffs.”

WTO consultations are the first step of the international body’s dispute settlement procedure. The two parties have 60 days to settle the matter before the claimant can request that a panel be set up to rule on it.

A WTO official confirmed to AFP that “Canada initiated dispute proceedings yesterday against the US at the WTO on the additional tariffs,” following a similar complaint filed by Beijing over fresh US levies on Chinese goods.

Trump temporarily lifts tariffs on car imports from Mexico and Canada

Donald Trump says he will grant a one-month exemption for US automakers from new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada.

The US president’s 25% tariffs on all imports from Mexico and Canada took effect on Tuesday, along with a doubling of duties on Chinese goods to 20%.

The White House, however, said on Wednesday that after talks with Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, Trump will allow a one-month exemption from tariffs on auto imports from the neighboring countries.

Tariffs create significant challenges for North American automakers.

They build vehicles in all three countries and often move parts across international borders several times while assembling them into systems and finished vehicles.

Trump tells Trudeau he has not done ‘enough’ to resolve trade dispute

In an online post, President Donald Trump said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had called him “to ask what could be done about Tariffs.”

“I told him that many people have died from Fentanyl that came through the Borders of Canada and Mexico, and nothing has convinced me that it has stopped,” Trump wrote. “He said that it’s gotten better, but I said, ‘That’s not good enough.'”

The US president also said that the call ended in a somewhat friendly manner.

Trump has imposed broad tariffs on Canada, Mexico on Tuesday, citing an “extraordinary threat” from illegal immigration and drugs.

Trudeau slammed the tariffs on calling it a “very dumb thing to do” and announced retaliatory measures.

Trump also accused the Canadian leader of playing up a Canada-US trade war to cling to power.

Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January, is to step down after a Liberal party leadership contest this weekend which will choose his replacement

US Commerce Secretary Lutnick hints at tariff change

US President Trump was considering modifying the 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.

The announcement could come as early as Wednesday, only a day after Trump’s tariffs were imposed on Canada, Mexico, and China.

Lutnick dismissed the possibility of lifting the levies completely but signaled potential relief for specific sectors such as automakers.

“But what he’s thinking about is which sections of the market that can maybe, maybe, he’ll consider giving them relief until we get to, of course, April 2,” Lutnick said.

On April 2, Trump plans to announce what he calls “reciprocal” tariffs to match the tariffs, taxes, and subsidies from other countries.

However, Canada has already stated that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not willing to lift Canada’s retaliatory tariffs unless Trump removes all tariffs.

“We’re not interested in meeting in the middle and having some reduced tariff. Canada wants the tariffs removed,” Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc told the Canadian national broadcaster.

Trump: ‘It’s time for America to wage war’ on Mexican drug cartels

In his address to Congress, US President Donald Trump accused Mexican drug cartels of already “waging war on America,” adding that “it’s time for America to wage war on the cartels.” The accusations were launched on the same day his administration announced 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada.

Trump claims the tariffs are an appropriate response to what he believes is a failure of the Mexican government to stop illegal drugs from entering the US. “The territory to the immediate south of our border is now dominated entirely by criminal cartels that murder, rape, torture and exercise total control,” he told Congress.

Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum last month announced a deployment of additional 10,000 troops to the US-Mexico border.

Supreme Court upholds order to release $2 billion in foreign aid payments

The US Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s administration cannot stop payments to foreign aid organizations for work they have already completed for the government.

The court supported US District Judge Amir Ali’s decision, which ordered the Trump administration to quickly release funding to contractors and grant recipients from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department for their past work.

Ali had ordered the US State Department and USAID to pay nearly $2 billion to contractors by midnight on Wednesday last week.

The Trump administration turned to the Supreme Court as the deadline approached. They argued that handling claims properly in such a short time was impossible.

By a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court told Ali to “clarify what obligations the government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order, with due regard for the feasibility of any compliance timelines.”

The court’s decision, however, keeps Ali’s temporary restraining order in place, which stopped the spending freeze.

Panama president denounces Trump’s Canal claims

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said Wednesday President Donald Trump was lying when he claimed that the United States was “reclaiming” the Panama Canal.

In his first speech to Congress after becoming president again, Trump welcomed a deal by a group led by giant asset manager BlackRock to acquire two Panama Canal ports

He described this deal as an early step in his administration’s plan to “reclaim” the important waterway.

President Mulino, however accused Trump of “once again lying” in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“The Panama Canal is not in the process of being reclaimed… the Canal is Panamanian and will continue to be Panamanian!”

Panama, took over control of the crucial international waterway in 1999 under a treaty negotiated with the United States 20 years earlier.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to “take back” control of the Panama Canal.

A consortium led by US firm BlackRock has agreed to purchase the ports of Balboa and Cristobal on either end of the canal from a Hong Kong-based company CK Hutchison. The canal is home to several other ports.

Greenland’s prime minister rejects Trump’s acquisition plans

Greenland’s prime minister said, “Greenland is ours” and cannot be taken or sold.

This was in response to President Donald Trump, who told Congress the United States would acquire the territory “one way or another.”

“Kalaallit Nunaat is ours,” Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede wrote, using Greenlandic for the “Land of the People” or the “Land of the Greenlanders.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, in an interview with broadcaster TV2, echoed Egede in repeating that Greenland is not for sale.

Located in the Arctic Circle, Greenland sits between Canada and northern Europe.

Although an autonomous territory, it is still ruled by the Danish crown. Any American effort to acquire Greenland would therefore have to include Denmark.