Donald Trump has said he will double steel and aluminium tariffs against Canada to 50% and threatened to impose levies on its car industry as the US President escalated his trade war. The Telegraph has more.
In the latest souring of relations between the North American neighbours, Mr Trump announced he would impose 50% tariffs on all steel and aluminium coming into the US from Canada.
He said the new levy would come into force from tomorrow and was in retaliation for Ontario’s decision to place a 25% tariff on electricity coming into the US.
The global sell-off in stock markets resumed after Mr Trump’s announcement, with the FTSE 100 in London and the Cac 40 in Paris dropping 1.3% and the Dax in Frankfurt plunging 1.3%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell as much as 1.4% and the S&P 500 dropped as much as 1.2%.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he wrote: “Also, Canada must immediately drop their Anti-American Farmer Tariff of 250% to 390% on various US dairy products, which has long been considered outrageous.
“I will shortly be declaring a National Emergency on Electricity within the threatened area.
“This will allow the US to quickly do what has to be done to alleviate this abusive threat from Canada.
“If other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada, I will substantially increase, on April 2nd, the tariffs on cars coming into the US which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada.”
Worth reading in full.
In the Spectator, Matthew Lynn says Trump is happy to see the stock markets fall in reaction to his aggressive tariff policy:
Trump knows that Wall Street was massively over-valued on taking office. He knows as well that ending President Biden’s wild, deficit-funded spending, as well as significant redundancies as Government waste is cut, will mean an inevitable slow-down in the economy. With that in mind, he is quite happy to see a correction take the froth out of the market, especially as it will help prevent a far worse crash in a year or two. In reality, he wants stocks to fall. It is a high-risk strategy, and of course it could easily get out of control. But if there is a limited 10% fall over the course of the spring it could just work.
Stop Press: Ontario has suspended its new tax on electricity exports after Trump’s escalation. Doug Ford, the province’s Premier, wrote on X that he had “a productive conversation about the economic relationship between the United States and Canada” with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. He said that Ontario had “agreed to suspend its 25% surcharge on exports of electricity to Michigan, New York and Minnesota”.
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You need to explain, please, the full story of what President Trump has given (in detail) for Canada (and Mexico) to do and if they do, the Administration will relax tariffs. Missing in this and most other pieces in UK Media.
The Telegraph loves hyperbole, although I’m not sure why the FTSE ‘drops’ 1.3% while the Dax ‘plunges’ by…1.3%.
When reading anything in the Telegraph business pages, I find it useful to ask ‘was this written by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard?’ Not because he’s always wrong, but some of his writing seems to be from another planet.
Canadians lack adults. Trump maintains that they tariff goods some as high as 300% in contravention of NAFTA. $250 Bn US being lost in his opinion.
The Canadians as you would expect play victim.
Tronald also wants the Cdns to close the border to drugs, illegals and re-exported Chinese products trying to avoid tariffs. The Cdns have responded they may or may not pursue such policies. Their lack of border resolution is one reason for the Trump tariffs.
What is also never mentioned is the following – The Canadians spent 10 years demonising Trump in the fake news and their politics; imitating the US Demon party, including saying he should be dead, imprisoned etc. ‘The Liberal’ party and CBC received money from the US Demon party, and USAID; and aligned the country with the WEF-Trans-GloboHomo-Climate theologies. Chinese influence is also rampant.
Canada is a Woke-WEF controlled actor. It is not a separate nation state. If I am Trump I view it not as an ally but as opposition and a threat.
What is always missing from the US arguments or Trump in particular with regards border issues the US has on illegal migration and drugs is that the problem originates in the US, not these border states. The insatiable demand for drugs is what drives the border problem. Lax policies in the US do nothing to address this drug problem. It is myopic and self-serving for politicians to blame bordering countries for not managing this influx. The same for illegal migrants. The laws and punishments for hiring illegal aliens is non-xistent. Cheap labour is enough to turn a blind eye. It’s the US agencies, politician and their laws that need to address the border issues not the neighboring state.
The electricity that Ford of Ontario is threatening to add a tariff is generated excess power from Wind Turbines in Ontario. This electricity is fed into the US grid. Ontario does not supply 100% of this US electricity. So the tariff is not a threat to electricity supply in the US which is all supplied by US Sates contrary to what Trump has insinuated. For what Trump is trying to do, he is not very well informed.