The president’s threats to slap duties on goods imported from the European Union are part of a pattern of directing the harshest penalties at the United States’ closest allies.

Both Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and Mexican President Sheinbaum said they had agreed to bolster border enforcement efforts in response to Trump's demand to crack down on immigration and drug smuggling.

Some of the purported concessions that led to a 30-day pause on the tariffs were things Canada and Mexico had already done before Trump’s threat, but it’s complicated.