President Trump said he spoke to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who told him he would remove some of the retaliatory tariffs against the United States and calm trade tensions between the neighboring nations.
“He’s removing his tariffs, yeah, he’s removing his retaliatory tariffs, which I thought was nice. And we’re going to have another call soon. Yeah, we had a very good call,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“I like him,” he added, arguing that Canada and Mexico “take a lot of our business” that is now returning to the U.S. because of his tariffs plan.
Carney announced on Friday that he will remove the 25 percent counter-tariffs placed on U.S. goods that are in compliance with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which have been in place since March, CNBC reported. The new tariff rate on U.S. goods will go into effect Sept. 1.
Trump praised Carney for dropping some tariffs.
“It’s impossible, I think, for another country to stop it and we are working on something. We want to be very good to Canada. I like Carney a lot, I think he’s a good, good person. And we had a very good talk yesterday so I think it will be good,” Trump said.
Canada will keep 25 percent tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles from the U.S., which are all sectors that Trump has imposed tariffs on. Carney has suggested the move to remove some tariffs is part of preparing for talks to review the USMCA trade agreement, Bloomberg reported.
Trump has hit Canada with a 35 percent tariff, citing frustrations with the flow of fentanyl across the U.S. border. But, goods that are covered by USMCA, which Trump signed in 2020, are exempt from tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
