President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will double the tariffs imposed on steel and aluminum imported from Canada, an escalation of the brewing economic feud between the U.S. and its largest trading partner. Trump posted to his Truth Social platform that the tariffs would go from 25% to 50% starting Wednesday, a move that comes in response to the province of Ontario placing a 25% tariff on electricity coming into the United States. Trump added that he would be declaring a "national emergency" for the three states Ontario has targeted so that the tariffs could go into effect. Trump also called on Canada to drop its duties on American dairy products and threatened to "substantially increase" tariffs on cars imported into the U.S. if Canada did not drop "other egregious, long time tariffs."
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will double his planned tariffs on steel and aluminum from 25% to 50% for Canada, escalating a trade war with the United States’ northern neighbor. Trump said on social media that the increase of the tariffs set to take effect on Wednesday is a response to the price increases that the provincial government of Ontario put on electricity sold to the United States. “I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add an ADDITIONAL 25% Tariff, to 50%, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD,” Trump posted Tuesday on Truth Social.
President Trump ordered an additional 25% tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum imports Tuesday in response to Ontario charging Americans in parts of three border states 25% more for electricity. The tariff will go into effect Wednesday morning and bring the total US levy on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50% of those commodities’ prices. Trump, 78, also demanded that Canada eliminate their 250% to 390% tariff on various American dairy products when purchases exceed a limit the president previously negotiated during his first term, and threatened to decimate the auto industry of America’s northern neighbor. The president’s proclamation further rattled uneasy stock markets, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting nearly 600 points before regaining some ground in late-morning trading.
