Trump could scale back Canada, Mexico tariffs Wednesday, Lutnick says
President Donald Trump could announce tariff compromise deals with Canada and Mexico as soon as Wednesday, likely involving the scaling back of at least part of the new 25% levies on goods from both countries, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday.
“Both the Mexicans and the Canadians are on the phone with me all day today, trying to show that they’ll do better,” Lutnick said Tuesday afternoon. “And the President is listening because, you know, he’s very, very fair and very reasonable. So I think he’s going to work something out with them,” he said on “Fox Business.”
Trump, who has held up tariffs as an all-powerful negotiating tool, based the policy on allegations that the neighboring countries were failing to stem the flow of drugs and crime into the U.S.
– Kevin Breuninger, Sarah Min
Canada appeals to WTO over U.S. tariffs
Canada has appealed to the World Trade Organization over the imposition of tariffs by President Donald Trump.
Canada’s ambassador to the WTO, Nadia Theodore, said Ottawa has “requested WTO consultations” with the U.S. “in regard to its unjustified tariffs on Canada.”
“The U.S. decision leaves us with no choice but to respond to protect Canadian interests,” Theodore said in a post on LinkedIn Tuesday. “This was not the outcome we hoped for. And we urge the U.S. administration to reconsider their tariffs.”
WTO official confirmed to CNBC that Canada has requested consultations, the first step in the organization’s process to resolve trade disputes.
— Spencer Kimball
China officials say they are ready to ‘fight till the end’
Chinese officials are taking an aggressive stance toward the U.S. tariff escalation, including a post from the Chinese Embassy in the US on X.
“If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” the post said.
China Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian echoed those remarks while also calling the U.S. reasoning of fentanyl for the tariffs a “flimsy excuse.”
“If the U.S. has other agenda in mind and if harming China’s interests is what the U.S. wants, we’re ready to fight till the end. We urge the U.S. to stop being domineering and return to the right track of dialogue and cooperation at an early date,” the spokesperson said.
— Jesse Pound