Donald Trump said on Thursday the US would impose a 35% tariff on imports from Canada next month and planned to impose blanket tariffs of 15% or 20% on most other trade partners.
In a letter released on his social media platform, Trump told Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, the new rate would go into effect on 1 August and would go up if Canada retaliated.
In March, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on cars and auto parts imported from Canada. In June, he announced a 50% tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum imports. The new rates apply to all other goods.
Trump’s letter repeats his mistaken, but frequently reiterated belief that tariffs are paid by foreign countries or businesses. In fact, tariffs are an import tax, paid by US importers and often passed on to US consumers.
The new tariff rates set by Trump this week could all be reduced to zero if the administration loses its appeal later this month of an adverse ruling by the US court of international trade, which found in May that the president had acted beyond his legal authority by using emergency powers to impose tariffs in the absence of an actual emergency.
That hearing at the US court of appeals for the federal circuit in Washington is scheduled for 10am local time on 31 July.
Trump has broadened his trade war in recent days, setting new tariffs on a number of countries, including allies Japan and South Korea, along with a 50% tariff on copper.
In an interview with NBC News published on Thursday, Trump said other trading partners that had not yet received such letters would likely face blanket tariffs.
“Not everybody has to get a letter. You know that. We’re just setting our tariffs,” Trump said in the interview.
“We’re just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it’s 20% or 15%. We’ll work that out now,” Trump was quoted as saying by the network.
