Trump slaps 35% tariff on Canada
US President Donald Trump has ramped up his tariff assault on Canada, saying the US would impose a 35 percent tariff on imports next month and planned to impose blanket tariffs of 15 percent or 20 percent on most other trading partners.
In a letter released on his social media platform, Trump told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney the new rate would go into effect on August 1 and would go up if Canada retaliated.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. In a post on X late on Thursday, Carney said his government will continue to defend Canadian workers and businesses in their negotiations with the US as they work towards that deadline.
The 35 percent tariff is an increase from the current 25 percent rate that Trump had assigned to Canada and is a blow to Carney, who was seeking to agree a trade pact with Washington.
An exclusion for goods covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on trade was expected to stay in place, and 10 percent tariffs on energy and fertilizer were also not set to change, though Trump had not made a final decision on those issues, an administration official said.
Trump complained in his letter about what he referred to as the flow of fentanyl from Canada as well as the country's tariff- and non-tariff trade barriers that hurt US dairy farmers and others. He said the trade deficit was a threat to the US economy and national security.
"If Canada works with me to stop the flow of Fentanyl, we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter," Trump wrote.
Canadian officials say a miniscule amount of fentanyl originates from Canada but they have taken measures to strengthen the border.
Trump has broadened his trade war in recent days, setting new tariffs on a number of countries, including allies Japan and South Korea, along with a 50 percent tariff on copper.
His latest salvo rattled investors anew, with US and European stock futures dipping in Asia yesterday as markets nervously awaited ahead of expected tariff on European Union later yesterday.
The potential escalation between the EU and the US is a big deal for financial markets," said Joseph Capurso, head of international economics at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "If you get something similar to (the US-China trade war in April), that's going to be very destabilising."
In an interview with NBC News published on Thursday, Trump said other trading partners that had not yet received such letters would likely face blanket tariffs.
"Not everybody has to get a letter. You know that. We're just setting our tariffs," Trump said in the interview.
"We're just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it's 20% or 15%. We'll work that out now," Trump was quoted as saying by the network.
Comments