Canadian Metals Will Face Same 25% Tariff as Other Countries

About an hour later, a White House spokesperson clarified, writing: "Trump has once again used the leverage of the American economy, which is the best and biggest in the world, to deliver a win for the American people. Pursuant to his previous executive orders, a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum with no exceptions or exemptions will go into effect for Canada and all of our other trading partners."

When speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump complained again about Canadian lumber, auto manufacturing and energy imports, and the level of their military spending for NATO, and said, "Frankly, the way that gets solved is Canada should honestly become our 51st state. We wouldn't have a northern border problem. We wouldn't have a tariff problem.

"When you take away that artificial line that looks like it was done with a ruler ... and you look at that beautiful formation of Canada and the United States, there is no place anywhere in the world that looks like that."

He also wrote about removing "the artificial line of separation" in his late morning social media post that had said Canadian metals would face twice the tariffs of any other aluminum and steel exporter.

Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney, in his victory speech March 9, said that Trump wants Canada's resources, land and country.

“America is not Canada, and Canada never, ever will be part of America in any way, shape or form,” he said to loud cheers. “We didn’t ask for this fight. But Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves. So, the Americans, they should make no mistake. In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.”

Peter Navarro, a top trade adviser to Trump, quoted the "gloves" line on CNBC, and said Canadian politicians should tamp down their rhetoric.

Trump, in his post, also attacked Canada as "one of the highest tariffing nations anywhere in the world," and wrote that "Canada must immediately drop their Anti-American Farmer Tariff of 250% to 390% on various U.S. dairy products, which has long been considered outrageous."

Those are tariffs for exports past the TRQ limits. The U.S. exported more than $1 billion in dairy exports to Canada duty-free last year, within the TRQs, but the domestic dairy industry complains that Canada administers those TRQs in a way to guarantee that they will not be fully filled.

"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 added. "Those cars can easily be made in the USA!"

Trump added, in a second post, "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!"

Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank, released a statement on the Canadian electricity escalation and threatened U.S. response from its senior economist, Ryan Young.

"When you place a tariff on a country's goods, they will nearly always retaliate. We went through this four times with China in Trump’s first term, and twice so far this term. Now the same story is playing out with Canada," he said.

"Sometimes the only way to win is not to play. This is true of nuclear war, and it is true of tariffs."

For aluminum products subject to Section 232 tariffs, Canada exported $9.7 billion worth to the U.S. in 2024, 49% of all U.S. imports of those goods. During 2024, there were no tariffs on Canadian aluminum products, while most other countries' exports faced either 10% tariffs or quotas. On March 12, there will be 25% tariffs on those goods.

For steel products subject to Section 232 tariffs, Canada exported $7.1 billion worth to the U.S. in 2024, about 22% of all U.S. steel imports covered by the action; those, too, were not subject to tariffs in 2024.

Some of the top importers of aluminum from North America are a windows company that makes windows for skyscrapers and individual houses; an aluminum rolling company headquartered in Atlanta; an extrusion manufacturer that makes products for bridges, mass transit, automotive, commercial transportation, lighting, power, telecom, medical, military and electronics industries; and a leading maker of aluminum cans, aerosol cans and food cans. None of those companies provided comment in response to requests; the Aluminum Association declined to comment without official action imposing 50% tariffs.

Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., said in a hallway interview at the Capitol that he met with manufacturers who supply submarine manufacturers in his state, and they said the 25% tariffs on Canadian steel are increasing metal costs, even if they're buying U.S. steel.

"They were really upset about the fact they're going to be eating the cost of this policy," he said. "These are fixed-price contracts."

He added, "This is definitely shooting ourselves in the foot in terms of the manufacturing sector."

Courtney said he thinks Trump is serious about annexing Canada. "This thing is looking like it's an enduring problem," he said.

Navarro scoffed at the TV anchor's comment that CEOs are rattled by the constant talk of tariff changes.

He said that for companies that offshore production, "you should've been bringing that on board months ago." He quoted a fictional CEO saying, "Whoa, I got caught by surprise."

"No, you didn't get caught by surprise, you bet against Trump," he said. "Look, if there's anything that people have learned right now ... Donald Trump is going to be doing exactly what he promised on the campaign trail, and it's going to be to the benefit of America."