Updated March 11, 2025 at 16:55 PM ET
The day before steel and aluminum tariffs on all U.S. trading partners are set to go into effect, President Trump announced — and then hours later rescinded — tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum at double the rate of the rest of the world.
"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," Trump wrote in a Tuesday-morning post on his social media site.
Trump said he was imposing the tariffs in response to Ontario's imposition of a 25% surcharge on electricity exports, which the province said would affect customers in Minnesota, Michigan and New York. Ontario Premier Doug Ford imposed that surcharge in response to tariffs Trump had previously placed against some Canadian goods.
Stocks fell on the tariff announcement, and Tuesday afternoon, the administration said that it had reached an agreement with Ford. In a statement, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he had talked to Ford, who agreed to remove the surcharge in exchange for a meeting in Washington this week to discuss renegotiating the USMCA trade deal.
The administration subsequently announced that the tariffs on Canada would match the rest of the world.
"Pursuant to his previous executive orders, a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum with no exceptions or exemptions will go into effect for Canada and all of our other trading partners at midnight, March 12th," said White House spokesman Kush Desai in a statement to NPR Tuesday afternoon.
A U.S. tariff on steel and aluminum means that U.S. companies will pay more to import those products. That can lead to higher prices for American businesses and consumers. Canada is the largest exporter of both steel and aluminum to the United States.
Amid the tariff talk, Trump continued his taunt that Canada should become a U.S. state. "This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear," Trump wrote. It's not clear why Trump has fixated on Canadian statehood, an idea that Canadian leadership has repeatedly and firmly rejected.
The last-minute whipsawing on steel and aluminum tariffs, which Trump had already set to go into effect at midnight, is the latest in his chaotic tariff policy. Trump had promised to make tariffs the centerpiece of his second term, and this term has indeed been marked by a series of tariffs imposed, threatened and withdrawn. The uncertainty caused by those rapid shifts has rattled stock markets and other economic indicators.
While the stock market does not necessarily track overall economic health, other indicators have shown weakness. Consumer confidence and consumer spending have both posted recent declines. In a weekend interview with Fox News, Trump would not rule out the possibility of recession.
Trump and administration officials have repeatedly framed any economic fallout from tariffs as short-term pain. The administration has said the goals of tariffs include higher revenue, a boost to manufacturing jobs in the U.S., and a slowdown in fentanyl entering the country. Those goals in many ways conflict with each other — a tariff might boost American manufacturing by deterring the purchase of foreign goods, for example. But then, that tariff would not create much revenue, as businesses and consumers would be buying American goods, and therefore not paying the tariff.
Trump is scheduled to speak Tuesday evening to the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs of major American companies. Those leaders will likely be seeking clarity on the president's economic strategy and goals.
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