WASHINGTON: The US will impose 100 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports ought to Ottawa finalise a brand new commerce cope with China, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mentioned Sunday (Jan 25), amplifying a similar threat from President Donald Trump a day earlier.
“We will not let Canada develop into a gap that the Chinese language pour their low cost items into the US,” Bessent mentioned on ABC’s This Week.
Throughout a go to to Beijing on Jan 16, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney introduced a thaw in bilateral relations with China, saying the 2 international locations had struck a “new strategic partnership” and a preliminary trade deal.
Underneath the deal, China is anticipated to scale back tariffs on canola imports from Canada by Mar 1 to round 15 per cent, down from the present 84 per cent.
China may also permit Canadian guests to enter the nation visa-free. In flip, Canada will import 49,000 Chinese language electrical autos (EVs) below new, preferential tariffs of 6.1 per cent.
The deal got here amid a US-Canada trade war, with the Trump administration imposing import duties on its northern neighbour.
When Bessent was requested to make clear whether or not Washington would make good on a menace made by Trump on Saturday to impose tariffs of 100 per cent on Canadian imports, the Treasury chief replied: “There’s chance of 100 per cent tariffs in the event that they do a free commerce deal.”
He added that the brand new tariffs can be imposed “in the event that they go additional, if we see that the Canadians are permitting the Chinese language to dump items”.
Trump himself took to his Reality Social platform Sunday to touch upon the negotiations between Ottawa and Beijing, writing: “China is efficiently and utterly taking on the as soon as Nice Nation of Canada. So unhappy to see it occur.”
“I solely hope they go away Ice Hockey alone!” he added, in reference to Canada’s nationwide sport.
