President Trump paused a set of new tariffs on Canada that were set to take effect at midnight.
“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! The great Keystone XL Pipeline, long ago killed by Sleepy Joe Biden, may be awoken from the grave!” he wrote on Truth Social Tuesday evening. “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
“Congratulations Mr. President. The deal will include comprehensive market access for all American goods, economic security commitments, digital trade alignment, and many important provisions that will continue to protect our market and American workers, along with our Canadian partners,” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative wrote in a separate post.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday that “substantial progress has been made, although there is important work still to be done.”
“As this work is ongoing, the United States has agreed to postpone the implementation of its 50% tariff on a range of Canadian goods under Section 338 of the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930 until end of day, August 21,” Carney said. “While we continue this work, Canada remains focused on building a stronger, more independent, and more competitive economy at home.”
According to Trump’s proclamation pausing the tariffs, “Canada has expressed a commitment to remove the discriminations or unreasonable and unequal impositions at issue in Proclamations 11046, 11047, and 11048. In these officials’ opinion, because of the status of these negotiations, the public interests favor suspending for a period of 3 days the additional duties imposed in Proclamations 11046, 11047, and 11048.”
At the heart of the tariff issue was that Canada was “discriminating against the commerce of the United States by banning the purchase, distribution, or retailing of U.S. alcoholic beverages while not banning or similarly restricting such products from other countries,” the proclamation explained.
