U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he has instructed his commerce secretary to put an additional 25 per cent tariff on all steel and aluminum coming into the United States from Canada, bringing the total tariff on those products to 50 per cent starting Wednesday.
The president said the move is in response to Ontario’s 25 per cent surcharge on electricity shipped to 1.5 million American homes and business across three 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.
The U.S. stock market promptly fell following Trump’s social media post.
Trump also threatened to substantially raise tariffs on cars coming into the U.S. from Canada on April 2 if Canada doesn’t drop its retaliatory tariffs.
Prime minister-designate Mark Carney, who won the Liberal leadership race in a landslide on Sunday, said his government will maintain tariffs until Americans “show us some respect” and “can join us in making credible and reliable commitments to free and fair trade.”
After a brutal stock market selloff on Monday sparked by his tariff threats, Trump now faces pressure to show he has a legitimate plan to grow the economy instead of possibly pushing it into a recession.
Trump has tried to assure the public that his tariffs would cause a bit of a “transition” to the economy, with the taxes prodding more companies to begin the years-long process of relocating factories to the United States to avoid the tariffs.
But he set off alarms in an interview broadcast on Sunday, in which he didn’t rule out a recession.
“I hate to predict things like that,” Trump told Fox News.
Read More: Trump says he’s doubling 25% tariffs against Canadian steel and aluminum