Sri Lanka, July 31 -- President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would not raise U.S. tariffs on Mexican goods beyond their current levels for 90 days, in order to give the neighboring countries time to strike a trade deal.

Trump recently threatened to raise the blanket tariff rate on Mexican imports to 30%, up from the 25% duty he had previously imposed to address alleged cross-border crime and drug trafficking. Mexico is also exposed to a 25% tariff on auto imports and 50% tariffs on metals commodities.

The new rate for Mexico was set to take effect Friday, when Trump's paused "reciprocal" tariffs on dozens of countries are set to snap back into place.

But Trump said Thursday morning that he would postpone any tariff changes, as a re...