US President: We reached a "very fair" trade agreement with Canada for both sides
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that his late-Tuesday announcement to suspend the imposition of a 50 percent tariff on Canadian imports, just hours before it was set to take effect, came as a result of reaching a “very fair” trade deal for both sides.
Trump told reporters, “We had a very productive conversation with Prime Minister (Mark Carney) and reached an agreement with Canada on Tuesday night.”
He added, “A comprehensive 50 percent tariff on imports from Canada was scheduled to be imposed on Wednesday, but they called on Tuesday and presented the terms we had insisted on.”
He affirmed, “It is a very fair agreement for both sides,” clarifying, “There will be no tariffs on our farmers... Our farmers were paying hefty fees when exporting to Canada... These fees will be completely eliminated, bringing them to zero.”
Regarding whether the United States would reduce tariffs on Canadian cars or domestic trade under the agreement, the US President said, “We are taking some steps, as there must be reciprocal concessions,” adding, “We will reduce them slightly.”
He continued, “It is beneficial for everyone; our farmers will be very happy, as will our manufacturers... Essentially, we will no longer have to pay any fees when exporting to Canada.”
He pointed out that “Canada was imposing huge fees on us, but now there are no fees,” explaining, “What we managed to do is that, under the new tariff schedules we announced, a 50 percent tariff was scheduled to be imposed on everything starting Wednesday, but we postponed it for three days.”
He emphasized that “the whole matter is contingent on finalizing the documents... So, pending the completion of the documents, we have reached an agreement with Canada,” reiterating his belief that the deal is “very good for both sides.”
This came a day after the US President announced late Tuesday evening the temporary suspension of a 50 percent tariff on Canada for three days, which was scheduled to take effect on Wednesday morning.
In the announcement posted on his social media platform Truth Social, he added that the United States and Canada had made significant progress toward signing an agreement between them, noting that it was being “finalized.”
US President Trump signed three executive orders on July 20 last year to impose additional 50 percent tariffs on certain Canadian goods, including cement and animal products, in response to what he described as discriminatory treatment of US products. He stated that this move aimed to offset the burden on US trade and ensure equal opportunities for vital exports.
