Trump raises Canadian steel, aluminum tariffs to 50% in retaliation for Ontario energy duties

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he has ordered his administration to raise tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports by an additional 25%, bringing the total duties to 50%. The new policy will go into effect Wednesday morning, Trump said in a Truth Social post that also repeated his calls for Canada to be absorbed into the U.S. as the "Fifty First State." Trump said he was imposing the latest tariffs in response to Ontario's decision to slap a 25% tax on electricity exports to the U.S. That move by Ontario Premier Doug Ford was itself issued in retaliation for the sweeping 25% tariffs that Trump had placed on imports from Canada. "Based on Ontario, Canada, placing a 25% Tariff on "Electricity" coming into the United States, I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add an ADDITIONAL 25% Tariff, to 50%, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday morning. "This will go into effect TOMORROW MORNING, March 12th," he wrote.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average extended its losses after Trump's announcement, falling more than 500 points, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4%. Markets are already reeling from the impact of Trump's tariffs and broader fears of a recession. Minutes after Trump's announcement, Ford said he would keep his countermeasure on U.S. energy in place. "We will not back down. We will be relentless," Ford said on MSNBC. "I apologize to the American people that President Trump decided to have an unprovoked attack on our country, on families, on jobs, and it's unacceptable." In an interview on CNBC's "Money Movers" later Tuesday morning, Ford said he would be willing to shut off his province's energy supply to the U.S. if Trump "continues to hurt Canadian families." "I won't hesitate to do that," Ford said, adding, "that's the last thing I want to do." Trump imposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico in early February, before delaying them for one month and then reimposing them — and then partially delaying them again.

Ford has vowed to keep Ontario's tax in place, despite Trump's latest reprieve. "There's one person to be blamed, and that's President Trump," Ford said on CNBC. "There's one person to be blamed if we go into a recession, it will be called the Trump recession. No one else." Trump has not yet signed the formal paperwork to raise tariffs on Canada's steel and aluminum, but the order is "in the works," a senior administration official told CNBC on Tuesday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the president's thinking, said Trump's escalation was intended to "lay down the gauntlet" in response to Ford's action. The White House has no calls currently scheduled between the president and his Canadian counterparts, but the administration expects Ottawa to reach out at some point Tuesday, the official added.

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 7, 2025. Leah Millis | Reuters

Separately in the Truth Social post, Trump demanded that Canada "immediately drop" an "Anti-American Farmer Tariff" on certain U.S. dairy products. He also warned that he "will shortly be declaring a National Emergency on Electricity within the threatened area." "This will allow the U.S to quickly do what has to be done to alleviate this abusive threat from Canada," Trump wrote. The president also declared that if Canada does not lift other "egregious, long time Tariffs" on the U.S., he will "substantially increase" tariffs on auto imports on April 2. Doing so will "essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada," Trump wrote. The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for additional comment on Trump's post. Trump, who frequently praises tariffs as an economic multitool, has hyped April 2 as the date when he will impose widespread "reciprocal tariffs" on other countries that have their own duties on U.S. goods. Trump's on-again, off-again tariffs on Canada and Mexico have inflamed tensions with both U.S. neighbors. But they have stoked special ire in Canada, where movements have sprung up to boycott U.S. products and political leaders have forcefully denounced Trump's trade war.