Trump puts 35% tariff on Canada, eyes 15% to 20% rate for others

Sign up now: Get STs newsletters delivered to your inbox

Shipping containers at the Port of Montreal in Quebec, Canada, in April. Countries that have not yet received letters on tariffs from the US will likely face blanket tariffs.

PHOTO: REUTERS

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said on July 10 Washington would impose a 35 per cent tariff on imports from Canada in August and planned to impose blanket tariffs of 15 per cent or 20 per cent on most other trade partners.

In a letter released on his social media platform, Mr Trump told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney the new rate would go into effect on Aug 1 and would go up if Canada retaliated.

The 35 per cent tariff is an increase from the current 25 per cent rate that Mr Trump had assigned to Canada and is a blow to Mr Carney, who was seeking to agree a trade pact with Washington.

An exclusion for goods covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade was expected to stay in place, and 10 per cent tariffs on energy and fertilizer were also not set to change, though Mr Trump had not made a final decision on those issues, an administration official said.

Mr 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.

Canadian officials say a miniscule amount