US President Donald Trump has paused the 50% tariff on Canada for three days. Without providing details, he said the pause was contingent on the United States and Canada finalising a trade deal.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday paused the 50 per cent tariff on Canada after holding talks with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the pause was contingent on the United States and Canada finalising a trade deal. He did not go into the specifics of either talks with Carney or the trade deal in the making.
The tariff was scheduled to go into effect at midnight. It would have affected Canadian imports worth $20 billion, such as hockey sticks, building materials, liquors, and clothing. The pause came after weeks of meetings between and at least two Trump-Carney calls.
The Canadian Prime Minister’s Office told NBC News that Trump and Carney held telephone calls on Monday and Tuesday. Without going into the specifics, Carney on Monday described talks with the Trump administration as “very delicate and intense”.
Last month, Trump slapped Canada with a 50 per cent tariff in response to what he dubbed “unequal treatment” of American cars, dairy, and alcohol. The tariff was on the top of 15-50 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, and copper; 10 per cent tariff on Canadian softwood lumber, and a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian automobile and auto parts.
More from WorldPreviously, Trump had refused to extend the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement for another 16 years. The refusal meant that the agreement would face a review every year rather than once every six years.
In his second term, Trump has used tariffs as the primary coercive tool to force countries to do his bidding. The tariff was the latest step in the coercive campaign against Canada. After winning the 2024 election, he declared that he would annex Canada and convert the country into the 51st American state. He has opened dialogue with separatist leaders inside Canada and mounted economic pressure on the country.
