US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) announced a three-day pause on the 50% tariffs on Canada that he had announced earlier.
Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I have paused the 50% Tariffs against Canada, that were scheduled to kick in tomorrow morning for a three day period, based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!”
According to the US Trade Representative’s office, the 50% duties would have affected about $20 billion of imports from Canada.
The announcement followed a week of negotiations between the two sides.
The tariffs were supposed to go into effect from 12:01 am Wednesday (US time). If they did, Canada would have felt the heat on products ranging from hockey sticks to tongue depressors.
In 2025, around 72% of Canada's exports went to the United States, underscoring Ottawa's reliance on Washington for trade. The tariffs would have also hit US importers, who would pass on higher costs to consumers – a risk for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump spoke twice by phone in the past two days, including a call on Tuesday afternoon, Carney's office said, AP reported.
A former US trade official told AP: “I don’t think either side really wants these tariffs to come into effect,’’ adding, “There’s a pretty strong push on both sides to find an off-ramp here.’’
Donald Trump's tariff stance
Unlike his predecessors, Trump has taken a hard line against Canada, imposing tariffs to push manufacturing back to the US. Earlier in Justin Trudeau's premiership and during Carney's ongoing tenure, Trump has, on several occasions, referred to Canada as the 51st US state.
Since roaring back to power last year, the US president has made tariffs the cornerstone of his economic policy. Last year, Trump imposed double-digit tariffs on most of the world's economies and declared the US trade deficit a national emergency. Since then, these tariffs have been struck down by the US Supreme Court.
In order to hit Canada, Trump invoked a law dating back to the Great Depression - Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930. He used this law to threaten 50% tariffs on about 5% of Canadian goods exported to the US.
