Lutnik hints of tariff relief to come: Live updates on the trade war
Canada enters day two of a tariff war with the United States with a glimmer of hope south of border.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday after markets closed that the Trump administration could announce a pathway for tariff relief on Mexican and Canadian goods covered by North America’s free trade agreement as soon as today.
U.S. President Donald Trump launched the trade war Tuesday, hitting Canada and Mexico with 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs, with a lower 10 per cent levy on Canadian energy.
“We have been ripped off for decades by nearly every country on Earth and we will not let that happen any longer,” Trump said last night in his first address to a joint session of Congress.
Canada has retaliated with $30 billion in tariffs of its own, and an additional $125 billion in levies set to take hold after 21 days. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with provincial premiers Tuesday afternoon to discuss “non-tariff measures” to hit back.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government would announce duties on targeted products and other measures Sunday.
Markets plunged Tuesday as the tariffs came into effect, but stocks were mixed this morning after Commerce Secretary Lutnick appeared to suggest some sort of compromise was coming.
Lutnick discounted the notion that the tariffs would be fully rolled back, pointing instead to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact negotiated during Trump’s first term.
“If you live under those rules, then the president is considering giving you relief,” Lutnick said. “If you haven’t lived under those rules, well, then you have to pay the tariff.
From British Columbia to Newfoundland, Canadians and their provincial representatives rallied against the tariffs, shunning
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