Washington — President Trump will not double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CBS News, after Lutnick and Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Canada would suspend its new 25% surcharge on electricity exports.
Ford and Lutnick announced the suspension of the electricity surcharge hours after Mr. Trump announced on Truth Social that he would double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports from the previous 25% rate to 50%.
Lutnick, asked by CBS News in an interview Tuesday if the president plans to go through with the 50% tariffs, replied, “No, that’s off, too. So, we’re at 25% for steel and aluminum because that’s where we were.”
The tariff whiplash began after Mr. Trump’s decision to impose 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada.
“Today, United States Secretary of Commerce @howardlutnick and Premier of Ontario Doug Ford had a productive conversation about the economic relationship between the United States and Canada,” Ford’s account said in a post to X. “Secretary Lutnick agreed to officially meet with Premier Ford in Washington on Thursday, March 13 alongside the United States Trade Representative to discuss a renewed USMCA ahead of the April 2 reciprocal tariff deadline. In response, Ontario agreed to suspend its 25 per cent surcharge on exports of electricity to Michigan, New York and Minnesota.”
Moments after the Ford-Lutnick joint statement was issued, the president told reporters he’s considering dialing back the 50% tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports he announced earlier, saying he’s “looking at it” and could “make a different decision.”
On Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump said he would double the levy on all steel and aluminum imports beginning Wednesday, citing Ontario’s electricity surcharge as the reason for the price hike.
“Based on Ontario, Canada, placing a 25% Tariff on ‘Electricity’ coming into the United States, 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, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD,” the president wrote on Truth Social Tuesday morning.
The president also called on Canada to drop tariffs on various U.S. dairy products, and said he will be declaring a “national emergency on electricity” in the areas affected by Canada’s electricity surcharge. New York, Minnesota and Michigan, which border Canada, were targeted by Ontario’s surcharge.
The president also reiterated his desire for Canada to become the United States’ 51st state, a proposal Canadians oppose, suggesting the northern neighbor won’t face tariff pressure if they acquiesce.
“The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State,” Mr. Trump wrote. “This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear. Canadians taxes will be very substantially reduced, they will be more secure, militarily and otherwise, than ever before, there would no longer be a Northern Border problem, and the greatest and most powerful nation in the World will be bigger, better and stronger than ever — And Canada will be a big part of that.”
Stocks tumbled again on Tuesday amid uncertainty over the president’s tariffs regime and fears that the U.S. economy could slip into a recession.
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