US President Donald Trump has announced that Canada will not proceed with imposing tariffs on electricity exports to the United States after a recent trade dispute between the two countries. The decision comes after Trump initially threatened increased tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, and electricity.
Trump accused both Canada and Mexico of treating the US “unfairly” and also criticized the European Union, calling it “horrible.”
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday (local time), 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 he 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.”
He further claimed that the US has been unfairly treated by multiple nations, stating, “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.”
Tariff Dispute and USMCA Talks
The trade tensions escalated earlier on Tuesday when Trump threatened to impose a 50% tariff on Canadian aluminum and steel, along with 25% additional tariffs on Canadian electricity exports to New York, Minnesota, and Michigan. In response, Ontario threatened to suspend electricity exports to these states, and Canadian Prime Minister-Designate Mark Carney vowed to retaliate.
However, later in the day, Trump backed down from his earlier threats, leading Canada to halt the planned electricity surcharges. Following this, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Canada’s Minister of Finance Dominic LeBlanc, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a meeting scheduled for Thursday to renegotiate the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Trump Blames Biden for Economic Woes
Trump also used the opportunity to blame former President Joe Biden for economic and immigration issues, criticizing the state of the country under his predecessor’s leadership.
“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.
Social Media Statements and Diplomatic Responses
Trump also took to Truth Social, writing, “Based on Ontario, Canada, placing a 25% Tariff on ‘Electricity’ coming into the United States, I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add another 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.”
Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatened to cut off electricity supply to the US if Trump’s tariff hikes were imposed. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later clarified that Trump has not yet spoken with Carney but remains open to discussions.