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Trump says Canada, Mexico tariffs take effect on April 2

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White House official says Trump to review March 4 deadline

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Trump says tariffs on EU auto imports to be generally 25%

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Senate confirms Jamieson Greer as U.S. Trade

Representative

(Adds comments from Canadian, Mexican officials, paragraphs

6-8, European Commission spokesperson, paragraphs 16-17)

By David Lawder and Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald

Trump on Wednesday raised hopes for another month-long pause on

steep new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, saying they

could take effect on April 2, and floated a 25% "reciprocal"

tariff on European cars and other goods.

A White House official, however, said Trump's previous March

4 deadline for the 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods

remained in effect "as of this moment," pending his review of

Mexican and Canadian actions to secure their borders and halt

the flow of migrants and the opioid fentanyl into the U.S.

Trump sowed confusion during his first cabinet meeting on

Wednesday, when he was asked about the timing for the start of

the duties for Canada and Mexico and replied that it would be

April 2.

"I have to tell you that, you know, on April 2, I was going

to do it on April 1," Trump said. "But I'm a little bit

superstitious, I made it April 2, the tariffs go on. Not all of

them but a lot of them."

Trump's comments prompted jumps in the value of the Canadian

dollar and Mexican peso versus the greenback.

Canadian Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne

told reporters that Canada would wait for signed executive

orders from Trump before reacting.

"Our mission is still to avoid the tariffs, extend the

suspension if we need to," Champagne said. "We are prepared -

there will be a targeted, strategic but a firm response" if

Trump imposes tariffs.

Mexico's Economy Ministry declined to comment on Trump's

remarks, but said Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard will meet on

Thursday with newly confirmed U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson

Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday.

Lutnick told the cabinet meeting that the fentanyl-related

actions were paused for 30 days but referred to "overall"

tariffs on April 2. He did not specify whether the March 4

deadline remained in effect.

"So the big transaction is April 2, but the fentanyl-related

things, we're working hard on the border," Lutnick said. "At the

end of that 30 days, they have to prove to the president that

they've satisfied him in that regard. If they have, he'll give

them a pause, or he won't."

EU TARIFF RATE

Trump has targeted early April for imposing reciprocal

tariffs matching import duty rates of other countries and

offseting their other restrictions. His trade advisers consider

European countries' value added taxes to be akin to a tariff.

Trump, asked whether he has decided on a tariff rate for

goods from the European Union, replied: "We have made a

decision, and we'll be announcing it very soon, and it'll be

25%, generally speaking, and that'll be on cars, and all of the

things."

He said the EU is a "different case" from Canada and takes

advantage of the U.S. in different ways.

"They don't accept our cars. They don't accept, essentially

our farm products," Trump said, adding that the EU was formed

"in order to screw the United States."

A European Commission spokesperson said the EU "will

react firmly and immediately against unjustified barriers to

free and fair trade," including for tariffs that challenge legal

and non-discriminatory policies.

"The European Union is the world's largest free market.

And it has been a boon for the United States," the spokesperson

said.

Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, was

planning to meet with U.S. lawmakers in Washington on Wednesday,

but not with any Trump administration officials.

NEW USTR CONFIRMED

Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted 56-43 to confirm

Greer as U.S. Trade Representative, putting a veteran of the

Republican president's first-term trade wars fully on the job.

Greer, who served as chief of staff to former USTR Robert

Lighthizer, won the support of five Democrats, including both

senators from Michigan, the center of the U.S. auto industry.

Trade groups welcomed Greer's confirmation, lauding his

commitment to consulting with industry and standing up for U.S.

businesses, farmers and workers. "We share Ambassador Greer's

desire for an active and pragmatic trade policy that creates

U.S. jobs and more resilient supply chains," said Jake Colvin,

president of the National Foreign Trade Council.

Greer told senators during his Senate confirmation hearing

that he wanted to quickly renegotiate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada

Agreement on trade to ensure China does not use it as a back

door to the U.S. market to avoid other tariffs.

"Right out of the gate, I expect that we'll be taking a

second look at the USMCA," Greer said.

Asked what changes he would like to see in the pact, Greer

zeroed in on further tightening automotive content rules.

"I think we should look at the rule of origin for

automobiles and aerospace and other things to look and see if we

need to have any kind of restriction on content or value added

from foreign countries of concern, or non-market economies," he

said, using language that U.S. trade officials often use to

describe China.