U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he plans to impose tariffs on imported cars around April 2.

Trump made the remark in the Oval Office when asked by reporters about his auto tariff comments earlier in the week. 

"Over the next — sometime, maybe, around April 2," Trump said. "I would have done them on April 1, believe it or not. I'm a little superstitious. No, literally, we had it planned for April 1. I said, 'let's make it April 2.'

"Do you know how much money that costs? That costs a lot of money just that one day, but we're going to do it on April 2," Trump added before confirming with someone off camera that the date was correct. 

The scope of the tariffs is unclear. 

Earlier this week the president mused about tariffs of 50 or 100 per cent on imported cars, saying Canada "stole" the industry from the United States and that the he wants vehicles made in Detroit. 

A pause on 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian exports was announced earlier this month, lasting until early March. But Trump has since signed an order for tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum, including from Canada.