Cnn
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A day after offering Canada a one-month return to punishment, practically 25% fee, President Donald Trump has threatened new tariffs as soon as Friday in Canadian raw materials and milk. It is another turn in a snake trade policy that seems to be moved every hour.
“Canada has given up on us for years in wood and dairy products,” Trump said at an Oval Office address on Friday, citing the fee approximately 250% of Canada for US Dairy Exports to the country. Trump said America would match those dollar-to-dollar fees.
“We can do it as soon as possible today, or we’ll wait until Monday or Tuesday,” Trump said. “We will charge the same. It’s not right. It has never been right, and they have treated our farmers badly. “
Trump’s announcement gave investors, businesses and consumers another strong dose of whip. Only the day before, Thursday, Trump announced a one-month pause on all tariffs in Canada and Mexico on products that match the US-MEXIC-KANDA Free Trade Treaty, known as USMCA. This had given, at least temporarily, many industries, especially autos and agriculture, a great sigh.
On Friday Trump said more “changes and adjustments” for tariffs should be expected in the future.
“There will always be some modifications,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “If you have a wall in front of you. Sometimes you have to go around the wall instead of through it.”
Stocks, which were lower to start the day after a mixed bag of a job report, initially fell after the threat of Trump’s tariff but deducted their losses. Dow increased about 45 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 wider fell 0.1%, and the heavy technical nasdaq decreased to 0.1% after falling into Thursday’s correction territory-a 10% decrease of its latest.
“The market has problems to digest the multidimensional chess Trump and its team are playing,” said Michael Block, market strategist in the seven capital. “This multidimensional game of chess is not going well for the great master. There may be a method of dementia. He may be trying to confuse the leaders of the world. But the market is saying to be confused. We don’t like it.”
Trump’s threat on Friday added more uncertainty to an economy that has shown cracks in its foundation and may be at risk of slipping if businesses and consumers grow nervous about the economic policy of the administration. The stretches are increasing, employment is slowing down, the consumer’s confidence is eroding and the inflation is getting again.
Tariffs can worsen all these factors.
Canada loads excessive tariffs for certain dairy products, including a 241% fee for milk, many for the plot of dairy farmers of America, who have complained for years that the border nation has been treating them unfairly.
In 2023, a panel of commercial disputes decided in favor of Canada, arguing that high import taxes did not violate USMCA. Wisconsin’s Democratic senator Tammy Baldwin made the decision, arguing that she was creating an unfair burden on her state’s dairy industry.
“Wisconsin milk farmers work hard every day to bring world -class products to the market, and they deserve a playing field with their global competitors,” Baldwin said in the wake of November 2023. “This decision flies in the deal that our country made with Canada and decides in Wiscons’ dairy products.”
But Trump, who often complained about high milk tariffs in his first mandate in office, did not negotiate the most reasonable tariffs in the USMCA treaty, which he signed.
Despite the complaints and the high alarming number, the Canadian dairy is not an important export, and a 241% reciprocal fee for milk is unlikely to do significant economic damage for each country.
Trump has criticized Canadian US lumber tariffs for several weeks, claiming America should respond in nature. He has claimed that America can do without Canadian lumber.
An executive order Trump signed on Saturday said America has an “abundance of wood resources that are more than appropriate to meet our indoor wood production needs.” It’s not that simple, industry experts argue: they warn that tariffs can end up growing raw materials and construction – and even push prices of flats for consumers.
The United States has 300 billion trees, but economists and household builders warn that America currently has no industrial ability to meet the demand and that imposing a significant tariff on Canadian raw materials can further aggravate the continuing crisis of housing affordability.
Wooden is a critical ingredient in the US house construction industry, and the United States resources about 30% of the soft timber that uses every year from Canada. Imports of raw materials from Canada are already undergoing 14.5%anti-dumping tasks.
This story has been updated with additional contexts and developments.