President Donald Trump is easing the 50% tariffs on selected Canadian goods, with the relief expected to take effect from 30 October, days before the United States midterm elections.
The exemptions cover products including plywood, paper goods, machinery and refrigeration equipment, according to reporting on Saturday. The move follows a Wall Street Journal report, carried by Reuters on Friday, that the United States was expected to remove the 50% tariffs on some Canadian agricultural and forestry products in a proclamation as early as 23 October. New tariffs will still target other goods, so the easing is selective, not a full reversal.
The timing is hard to miss. The midterms are on 3 November, and the trade fight with Canada has become a political argument on both sides of the border. American businesses that rely on Canadian lumber, paper and machinery have complained about higher costs, while Canadian manufacturers — especially in steel and cars — have warned that the tariffs are cutting orders and jobs.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada remains open to a fair-trade agreement, but is prepared to wait for the right deal. That careful wording captures Ottawa's position: welcome the relief, do not treat it as a settlement. Talks between the two countries broke down in August, triggering new tariffs and retaliation, and the breakdown has widened a rift between two allies that have traded freely for decades.
Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, said Canada was "working very hard" to make a deal with the United States. "Canada is working very hard to make a deal with us, and I hate to say this, but we have all the cards," he said. The Canadian government did not immediately respond to that remark.
Ottawa has not been waiting passively. Canada has unveiled a multi-billion-dollar plan to shield its manufacturers from the impact of American tariffs, aimed in particular at the steel, auto and critical-minerals sectors. The plan, reported this week at $6.2 billion in one account and as part of a larger $8.7 billion federal-Ontario partnership in another, is designed to keep factories running and workers employed while the trade dispute drags on. The two accounts describe the same effort from different angles — federal money, provincial money, and a shared goal of protecting industries that cannot simply move overnight.
The wider question is whether the easing is the start of a deal, or a pause before the next round. Carney has urged Canada to shift further away from its biggest trading partner, diversifying trade so that the country is less exposed the next time Washington changes its tariff policy. Trump, for his part, has cast doubt on the future of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the trade pact that governs much of North American commerce.
For now, the practical effect is simple: from 30 October, some Canadian goods will cross the border without the 50% charge that has applied in recent months. Whether that becomes a broader agreement — or whether new tariffs on other goods cancel out the relief — will be decided in the negotiations that follow, and in the political mood after the midterms.
Reporting based on Reuters and TBS News coverage.