Trump pauses 50% tariffs on Canada for 3 days
The Hill · C · trust 59/100
Comments: by Mallory Wilson - 08/18/26 11:24 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Mallory Wilson - 08/18/26 11:24 PM ET Comments: Link copied NOW PLAYING President Trump said late Tuesday that he paused the 50 percent tariffs on a slew of Canadian goods for three days, saying the U.S. and Canada are finalizing a deal.
The announcement comes just a few hours before the tariffs were supposed to go into effect at midnight.
“I have paused the 50% Tariffs against Canada, that were scheduled to kick in tomorrow morning for a three day period, based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!” he wrote on Truth Social.
He didn’t provide any more details of the deal but mentioned the Keystone XL pipeline that runs from Canada into several U.S. states.
“The great Keystone XL Pipeline, long ago killed by Sleepy Joe Biden, may be awoken from the grave!” he added.
According to the White House website, “Canada has expressed a commitment to remove the discriminations or unreasonable and unequal impositions” on goods like dairy, autos and liquor, a key part of the potential new tariffs.
The USTR office on social media congratulated the president on social media.
“The deal will include comprehensive market access for all American goods, economic security commitments, digital trade alignment, and many important provisions that will continue to protect our market and American workers, along with our Canadian partners,” the statement said.
In a statement, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said “substantial progress has been made, although there is important work still to be done.”
“While we continue this work, Canada remains focused on building a stronger, more independent, and more competitive economy at home,” he added.
He said Canada and the U.S. have been “engaged in intensive discussions” over the past few weeks.
Trump threatened these tariffs under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 last month in response to “discriminatory” trade measures. They would hit products ranging from “wine to hockey sticks to cement,” and account for about 5 percent of Canadian exports to the United States.
Section 338 is a long-dormant law that allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 50 percent on a country found to discriminate against U.S. products. They have never been used before.
Trump and Carney spoke by phone on Monday and Tuesday. Canadian and U.S. officials have met repeatedly, according to reports.
Carney told reporters Monday that the two countries were having negotiations, detailing them as “very intense and delicate.”
Reportedly, Canadian officials were aiming to stop the Section 338 tariffs, but also lower Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had maintained the tariffs were needed as a way to make things right after Canada retaliated after Trump placed liberation day tariffs on almost every nation in the world last year.
“If a country retaliates against us, we’re obviously not going to tolerate that,” U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer told reporters Friday. “We’ll take action. My sense is the Canadians, they want to have a more conciliatory approach, but we’ll see.”
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