WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has reversed course and will no longer double duties on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, White House senior adviser for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro said Tuesday.
The sudden change came in response to Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s announcement to suspend a 25% electricity surcharge on about 1.5 million U.S. energy users in New York, Michigan and Minnesota.
Trump had hinted at the reversal Tuesday afternoon, and Navarro confirmed it, saying Ford and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “had a cordial discussion, and Mr. Ford, in his wisdom, decided to back away from his electricity surcharge of 25%.”
Navarro added that Ford “understood that this was not going to be a fight that he could win.
Trump’s turnabout came after he said Tuesday morning that he would be doubling tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports, set to go in effect Wednesday, from 25% to 50%. With Trump backtracking, the steel and aluminum tariff rate for Canadian imports will remain at 25%.
Trump downplayed the impact of his tariff threats on the plunging stock market. He has argued the tariffs are needed to help rebuild the U.S. manufacturing sector.
Markets are going to go up and they’re going to go down. But you know what? We have to rebuild our country,” Trump told reporters gathered on the White House South Lawn as he promoted Tesla vehicles alongside Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and a senior White House adviser.
Donald Trump defends tariffs, suggests they might increase
Trump defended his use of tariffs in remarks Tuesday to business leaders in Washington following another day of tariff threats and a sudden reversal – and suggested higher fees could be on the way.
Speaking before The Business Roundtable, Trump touted a “renewed spirit” in the U.S. manufacturing sector because of his tariffs on imports, even as the new duties have seen the stock market plunge.
They don’t want to pay 25% or whatever it may be,” Trump said of companies, referring to the rate he wants to set on imports from Canada and Mexico as well as all steel and aluminum imports. “It may go up higher. Look, the higher it goes, the more likely it is they’re going to build (in the United States)
Last week, agreed to postpone until early April tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada that fall under the USCMA, a free trade deal he signed in 2019. They make up 50% of Mexican goods coming into the U.S. and 38% of those from Canada.
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