1 week Ago
A member of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration appears to have slipped up when he said that Canada would be getting hit with an additional 10 per cent tariff.
It added to what was already a confusing and chaotic day in Washington as Trump said he would be dialing back some of the massive global tariffs he announced last week. The president's initial plan — which outlined various tariff rates on the vast majority of countries around the world based on their trade balance with the U.S.
— was slated to go into effect Wednesday. Stock markets skyrocket after Trump announces 90-day pause on some tariffs, 125% rate for China Trump slaps retaliatory tariffs on dozens of countries but Canada is spared the worst this time A global recession is coming, economists warn A 10 per cent baseline tariff was applied across the board, with Canada and Mexico excluded. But U.
S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters Wednesday that the 10 per cent baseline levy would be applied to both countries. After Trump announced changes to the overall tariff plan, a reporter in Washington asked Bessent if the 10 per cent baseline would also apply to the U.
S.'s North American trading partners. Bessent replied with a brief "yes.
" A short time later, a senior government official told CBC News that Bessent's comment may not have been accurate. A White House official later told CBC News on background that the 10 per cent baseline tariff was not being applied to Canada and Mexico, though other tariffs still remain in place. Bessent's comments appeared to catch officials on both sides of the border off guard.
A senior source told Radio-Canada that Minister of International Trade Dominic LeBlanc quickly reached out to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Bessent's slip up came after Trump said on social media that rather than levying the higher import taxes he initially proposed by country, only the 10 per cent baseline would be applied. China was the only exception, which was hit with a 125 per cent tariff. Experts had been predicting a potential global recession as a result of Trump's tariff plan.
Stock markets have tumbled dramatically since the president announced the levies last week, but American and Canadian indexes regained some of those losses after Trump's Wednesday announcement. Canada is still subject to a number of industry-specific tariffs. A 25 per cent levy on steel and aluminum went into effect in March and a 25 per cent rate was applied to non-U.
S. content in imported cars this month..
