Trump faces moment of reckoning on trade after delaying tariffs

The president will soon have to decide whether to match his trade rhetoric with action or shelve his tariff plans.

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Trade seemed to take a back seat while the new administration pressed ahead on immigration enforcement, pardons of Capitol riot convictions, a fossil-fuel energy policy and federal workforce upheaval - among a range of other disruptive new measures.

That all changed this past weekend when Trump announced sweeping 25% tariffs on US allies Canada and Mexico, along with 10% duties on Chinese imports.

And while he has since delayed imposing those tariffs on his North American neighbours for a month after both countries agreed new border measures, the president still faces a moment of reckoning in which he will ultimately have to decide whether to match his rhetoric with action.

Trump often talks of the trade deficits between the US and its two neighbours as a key source of his dissatisfaction. If that's the case, then no amount of new border security or drug seizures - whatever the metrics or specific demands - will make the president fully abandon his tariff threats.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6264g7z2ewo

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