US President Donald Trump announced that Canada will not impose tariffs on electricity exports to the United States, following a decision to step back from a potential trade war escalation with its northern neighbor.
Trump accused both Canada and Mexico of treating the US “unfairly” and criticized the European Union, calling it “horrible.”
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump said, “There’s a very strong man in Canada who said he was going to charge a surcharge or a tariff on electricity coming into our country. He has called and said he’s not going to do that. And it would have been a very bad thing if he did. And he’s not going to do that, so I respect that.”
Trump continued, “Look, we’ve been treated very unfairly by Canada. We’ve been treated very unfairly by Mexico, but we’ve been treated very unfairly by every country all over the world. The European Union is horrible and we’re going to get it back… But we are USD 36 trillion, and we’re going to get it back. We’re the biggest, we’re the best. And I’m very optimistic.”
The President also blamed former US President Joe Biden for inflation and illegal immigration, claiming his predecessor left a “mess” and a “horrible situation” for the American people. Trump vowed that his administration would make the US “wealthy again.”
“I have to tell you, I’m very optimistic about the country much more optimistic this way than if I did it the easy way… Biden left us a mess. He left us tremendous inflation, tremendously high costs of products. He left us a mess, but he also left us a mess with millions of people that poured into our country that are criminals. Millions of those people happen to be criminals and we’re looking for them all over the place. But he left us a horrible situation, and we’re changing it. But one of the things we’re changing is we’re going to make our country really wealthy again. We’re going to bring our jobs back. Right now, we’re like a chicken that’s being plucked at from all over the world, we’re not going to let that happen anymore,” Trump said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump pulled back from escalating the trade war that would have significantly increased tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum and imposed new tariffs on Canadian electricity. In response, Canada suspended planned surcharges on electricity exports to the US, according to CNN.
Following this development, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Canada’s Minister of Finance Dominic LeBlanc, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced they would meet Thursday to renegotiate the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Ontario agreed to suspend a 25 percent tariff on electricity exports to New York, Michigan, and Minnesota. Previously, Trump had threatened a 50 percent tariff on Canadian aluminum and steel, though he later softened his stance.
On Tuesday morning, Trump initially warned he would respond to Ontario’s 25 percent surcharge on electricity exports with an equivalent 25 percent additional tariff on Canadian electricity. He also threatened even steeper tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Based on Ontario, Canada, placing a 25% Tariff on ‘Electricity’ coming into the United 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.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatened to cut off electricity exports to the US, while Canada’s Prime Minister-Designate Mark Carney vowed to maintain pressure on the US in response to Trump’s tariff measures.
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt noted on Tuesday that Trump had not yet spoken with Carney but added that “his phone is always open to leaders who wish to speak with him.”
