A member of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration appears to have slipped up when he said that Canada would be getting hit with an additional 10 per cent tariff.
It added to what was already a confusing and chaotic day in Washington as Trump said he would be dialing back some of the massive global tariffs he announced last week.
The president’s initial plan — which outlined various tariff rates on the vast majority of countries around the world based on their trade balance with the U.S. — was slated to go into effect Wednesday.
A 10 per cent baseline tariff was applied across the board, with Canada and Mexico excluded. But U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters Wednesday that the 10 per cent baseline levy would be applied to both countries.
After Trump announced changes to the overall tariff plan, a reporter in Washington asked Bessent if the 10 per cent baseline would also apply to the U.S.’s North American trading partners. Bessent replied with a brief “yes.”
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was pausing his sweeping reciprocal tariffs on countries ‘who didn’t retaliate,’ but raising them on China. Speaking to reporters, Trump said his decision wasn’t driven by the bond market turmoil, but acknowledged people ‘were getting a little queasy.’
A short time later, a senior government official told CBC News that Bessent’s comment may not have been accurate.
A White House official later told CBC News on background that the 10 per cent baseline tariff was not being applied to Canada and Mexico, though other tariffs still remain in place.
Bessent’s comments appeared to catch officials on both sides of the border off guard. A senior source told Radio-Canada that Minister of International Trade Dominic LeBlanc quickly reached out to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Commerce secretary cautions Canada about retaliation
Bessent’s slip up came after Trump said on social media that rather than levying the higher import taxes he initially proposed by country, only the 10 per cent baseline would be applied.
China was the only exception, which was hit with a 125 per cent tariff after Beijing said it would impose an 84 per cent tariff on all U.S. goods.
Lutnick said Wednesday that China was being hit harder because it had retaliated, and issued a word of caution to Canada.
“If Canada decides to keep their retaliatory move, which I would suggest — having watched how it went with China — it would be a really, really bad choice,” Lutnick told reporters in Washington.
Lutnick’s comment was in reference to counter-tariffs Ottawa has put on billions of dollars worth of U.S. goods in response to a number of industry-specific tariffs, including a 25 per cent levy on steel, aluminum and non-U.S. content in imported cars.
Lutnick praised Mexico, which is subject to the same tariffs as Canada, as having a more “restrained” response.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday that Trump moving to scale back his global tariff plan was a “welcome reprieve.”
Carney spoke with Trump late last month and the two agreed that tariff and trade talks would begin after the election.
“Canada must also continue to deepen its relationships with trading partners that share our values, including the free and open exchange of goods, services and ideas,” Carney wrote on X.
Later at a campaign stop, the Liberal leader briefly indicated counter-tariffs are still a key part of Canada’s strategy, despite the U.S. threatening retaliation.
“We’ll fight Americans with what they understand. They understand money,” he told the crowd in Saskatoon.
“So we have put counter-tariffs on the Americans. Counter-tariffs that have maximum impact there and minimum impact here.”
At his own campaign stop in Brampton, Ont., Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said the existing tariffs on Canada “are uncalled for and unjustified.” But he blamed Carney for not making progress on getting those tariffs removed.
“Carney is running his entire campaign on a false promise that he can control the president through magical, masterful negotiating techniques. Well, we know now that that is not true. Nobody can control this president,” Poilievre said.
