President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on electricity in the United States and doubled tariffs on aluminum and steel from Canada.
The dramatic move was in response to tariffs levied by America’s neighbor to the north.
Trump, in a lengthy post on his Truth Social account on Tuesday, also threatened to ‘permanently shut down’ the Canadian auto sector.
As the president ramps up his trade war, he said the only thing to make his tariffs stop is for Canada to become the ’51st state’.
Trump’s increase in tariffs, from 25 percent to 50 percent, will go into effect on Wednesday, he said.
He declared on Truth Social: ‘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.
‘I will shortly be declaring a National Emergency on Electricity within the threatened area,’ he added.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford put a 25 percent tariff on Canadian electricity to Michigan, New York and Minnesota on Monday in response to earlier tariffs from Trump.
Ford, a conservative politician who runs Canada’s most populous province, says he’s ready to ‘shut the electricity off completely’ if America continues to ‘escalate.’
Trump’s fury continued in a second post to his Truth Social account, where he warned Canada will pay a historically big ‘financial price’ for its electricity tariff. Many states in the Northeast buy supplemental energy from Canada.
He raged: ‘Why would our Country allow another Country to supply us with electricity, even for a small area? Who made these decisions, and why?
‘And can you imagine Canada stooping so low as to use ELECTRICITY, that so affects the life of innocent people, as a bargaining chip and threat?
‘They will pay a financial price for this so big that it will be read about in History Books for many years to come!’
The president spent much of Tuesday hammering America’s northern neighbor.
He also warned more auto tariffs are coming on April 2nd. He wants Canada to drop its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. dairy and agricultural products.
‘If other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada, I will substantially increase, on April 2nd, the Tariffs on Cars coming into the U.S. which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada,’ he said.
He closed with an offer to drop all tariffs if Canada agrees to become the 51st state of the United States.
‘The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State. This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear,’ he wrote.
There are more targets on Canada.
Canadians who are in the United States for 30 days or longer will soon have to register their information with the United States government, ABC News reported.
They also will have to fingerprinted starting on April 11, according to a new government rule, which is expected to be posted on the federal register Wednesday.
Trump’s ramp up of the trade war with Canada comes after Ottawa’s retaliation to U.S. tariffs imposed last week.
He’ll get a chance to defend his latest round of tariffs when he speaks to the Business Roundtable, a trade association of CEOs, on Tuesday evening.
He has argued his tariffs are a transition but also wouldn’t rule out a potential recession.
‘I hate to predict things like that,’ Trump said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures
‘There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big. We’re bringing wealth back to America. That’s a big thing. And there are always periods of — it takes a little time. It takes a little time. But I don’t — I think it should be great for us. I mean, I think it should be great.’
While Trump has said the tariffs are focused on stopping fentanyl trafficking into the United States, they have had a quick impact on the stock market and economy.
