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WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. President Donald Trump started sending out letters to governments around the world Monday threatening high tariffs in the absence of trade deals \u2014 even as he gave himself more time to make those deals.<\/p>\n
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump will sign an executive order Monday to delay the threatened tariffs \u2014 which were set to take effect Wednesday \u2014 until Aug. 1.<\/p>\n
Canada was not targeted by those global tariffs and has committed to coming up with some sort of bilateral deal with the U.S. by July 21. The Prime Minister\u2019s Office said Monday it was still working toward that deadline.<\/p>\n
Fen Osler Hampson, international affairs professor at Carleton University, said there\u2019s no point in Canada committing to a trade deal before it knows what\u2019s in other countries\u2019 trade agreements with the U.S.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s probably what I would call a last-mover advantage,\u201d Hampson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are looking at what other countries are negotiating, particularly a potential competitor, you want to come in with a tariff that is lower than what they have negotiated because that\u2019s going to make you more competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump took his trade war to the world with his so-called \u201creciprocal\u201d tariffs in April, but walked back the most devastating duties a few hours later. A 10 per cent universal tariff remained in place for most countries.<\/p>\n
Trump set a 90-day deadline to make deals \u2014 but the only trade arrangements the Trump administration has come up with since have been frameworks for deals with the United Kingdom and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
Members of Trump\u2019s administration changed their tune over the weekend about whether those elevated tariffs would descend on global markets this week.<\/p>\n
The president ramped up pressure on Monday by sending correspondence to countries hit by \u201cLiberation Day\u201d duties warning them he will impose a high tariff rate if there\u2019s no trade deal.<\/p>\n
He posted letters sent to Japan and South Korea on social media Monday morning. Leavitt said 12 more letters would be released on the president\u2019s social media throughout the day.<\/p>\n
While not affected by those global tariffs, Canada is still being hit with fentanyl-related U.S. tariffs. Those 25 per cent tariffs, with a lower 10 per cent levy on energy and potash, only apply to exports that don\u2019t comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade.<\/p>\n
Canada is also being hit with Trump\u2019s tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump agreed in March to negotiate a new security and economic partnership, and have been working toward that since Carney visited the White House in early May.<\/p>\n
Those negotiations were briefly thrown off track in late June by Trump\u2019s demand that Canada drop its digital services tax.<\/p>\n
Ottawa terminated that tax on technology giants just before it was set to be collected on June 30.<\/p>\n
Canadians will be watching closely to see whether the U.S. arrives at new trade agreements with other nations this week. It could show what Trump and his team are prioritizing ahead of the deadline for Canada.<\/p>\n
The United Kingdom and Vietnamese frameworks suggest the president is committed to keeping some baseline tariffs in place.<\/p>\n
Hampson said he\u2019ll be watching to see what level of baseline tariffs countries accept in any \u201cbroad-brushstroke agreements.\u201d He said he\u2019ll also watch for changes to sectoral tariffs and whether there are quota agreements for those duties.<\/p>\n
The United Kingdom negotiated a lower 10 per cent tariff on automobiles for a quota of 100,000 vehicles.<\/p>\n
Trump claimed Sunday that his administration had made deals and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Monday that there will be several announcements \u201cin the next 48 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bessent said Trump is concerned about \u201cthe quality of the deals, not the quantity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you could imagine, as (Trump) started herding the cats and trying to get everyone across the finish line, when he said that there\u2019s a chance countries could boomerang back to their April 2 reciprocal tariff levels, we\u2019ve had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u00a92025 The Canadian Press<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n