Trade dispute escalates again! Trump announces to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum

According to Zhitong Finance APP, on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum products from Canada in retaliation for Ontario's additional tax on electricity exported to the United States.

Trump stated on social media, "This measure will officially take effect tomorrow morning (March 12)." Previously, the U.S. had planned to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian metal products, and this decision directly doubles that tariff level.

Trump further threatened that if the Canadian government does not remove tariffs on U.S. dairy products and other goods, the U.S. will "significantly increase" tariffs on Canadian auto parts on April 2. He warned that this measure would "essentially permanently shut down Canada's automotive manufacturing industry."

This escalation of tariffs marks a further intensification of Trump's trade dispute with Canada and has made the market more uneasy. Since Trump implemented the first round of tariffs on Canada and Mexico last week, the stock market has seen a continuous decline. With Trump's announcement of the doubled tariffs, U.S. stocks came under renewed pressure. The Nasdaq had previously risen over 0.8%, but in response to the news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 1%, the S&P 500 index dropped 0.87%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.56%. Stocks related to the U.S. steel industry rose, with U.S. Steel (X.US) up 2.5%, Nucor (NUE.US) up 2.6%, and Steel Dynamics (STLD.US) up 2.5%.

The evolution of this tariff war reflects the unpredictability of Trump's trade policy. Early in his term, Trump announced a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods but then postponed it for a month. After the tariffs officially took effect last week, Trump exempted goods covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) within days to ease market turmoil and respond to strong opposition from U.S. automakers.

The Trump administration plans to implement a new round of tariffs in April, setting "reciprocal" tax rates to offset Canada's tariffs, non-tariff barriers, and specific taxes, such as the country's 5% goods and services tax, which applies to almost all domestic purchases. Trump has long criticized Canada's dairy tariffs, arguing that Canada's supply management system severely harms U.S. agricultural exports.

In response to U.S. tariff measures, Canada quickly took countermeasures. The Canadian government imposed tariffs on U.S. goods such as orange juice, footwear, and motorcycles, and levied a 25% surcharge on electricity exported to Minnesota, New York, and Michigan.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is an important conservative figure in Canadian politics, and under domestic public pressure, he implemented the electricity tariff policy to respond to Trump's frequent attacks on Canada. Trump has previously stated in public that the U.S. should "annex Canada," which has sparked strong resentment in Canadian society Ford criticized Trump for creating chaos during an interview on Monday night, stating: "Trump is not only causing chaos in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, but it has now spread globally. He initially promised to reduce inflation and create jobs, but the result has been the opposite. Inflation is rising, and auto plants are at risk of closure. If he continues to impose tariffs on the auto industry, people will lose their jobs, manufacturing will hit a low point, and everyone will have less money in their pockets."

At the same time Trump announced the tariff measures, he also stated that he would declare a "national emergency" regarding electricity supply issues and promised that the United States would take necessary actions to address the "threat of Canada's abuse of energy policy."

In fact, Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office, providing a legal basis for the government to utilize some lesser-known provisions of federal law to expedite the construction of infrastructure such as pipelines and power grids. This time, he may use executive power to push coal-fired power plants to increase electricity supply or expedite the approval of new generation and transmission projects to reduce dependence on Canadian electricity