At the White House, confusion and questionspublished at 19:52 British Summer Time 9 April
Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House
There’s considerable confusion in the press area of the White House as reporters scramble to understand exactly what was just announced, and the implications of it.
The sequence of today’s announcement was extremely quick. One minute, reporters here in the basement were reading Trump’s social media post, and the next we were running upstairs to jostle for position when Bessent and Leavitt came out to speak.
The most puzzling aspect of this announcement, for many observers, is where this leaves Mexico and Canada.
During the gaggle, Bessent very clearly said “yes” when asked if the two countries are included in the 10% baseline tariff. That portion of Bessent’s remarks was played, out loud, over and over by reporters to make sure they got it right.
What remains unclear is whether that is in addition to the 25% tariff placed by the US on Mexican and Canadian imports, ostensibly to combat fentanyl traffic, or whether the 10% only “kicks in” if that tariff falls away.
The BBC – and, it seems, almost every media outlet here at the White House – has called on the White House to clarify that point.
So far, we’ve not received an answer.
