Managing Trump (Tariffs & everything else): 1)Trump administration expands trade probes to more countries, including Canada; 2)Canada not a target for Trump administration’s new tariff investigations; 3)U.S. Customs and Border Protection says at least 45 days needed for tariff refunds
1)Trump administration expands trade probes to more countries, including Canada
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Kelly Geraldine Malone, March 13, 2026.
The Trump administration has expanded its trade investigations to 60 countries, including Canada, in an effort to shore up the U.S. president’s tariff policies.
“We are trying to move very quickly,” United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC Friday. “We are trying to move in a matter of months.”
Greer’s office announced Wednesday that it was launching investigations of excess industrial capacity in the European Union and a handful of other countries under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.
A Thursday evening news release from the office expanded the list of countries targeted by the investigations, citing forced labour.
“Despite the international consensus against forced labor, governments have failed to impose and effectively enforce measures banning goods produced with forced labor from entering their markets,” Greer said in the news release.
Canada is aware of the latest trade investigation, said Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s spokesperson.
“We are committed to working with our (Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement) partners to further a North American approach to tackling forced labour in international supply chains, as we have done over the last number of years,” Gabriel Brunet said in an email.
The new investigations are meant to give President Donald Trump a legal basis to continue his worldwide tariff agenda.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump’s favourite tariff tool, which he used for his “Liberation Day” tariffs and fentanyl-related duties on Canada, Mexico and China.
In response to the top court’s ruling, Trump implemented a 10 per cent worldwide tariff using Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act. Those tariffs do not apply to goods compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade.
Section 122 tariffs can only increase to 15 per cent and expire after 150 days unless Congress votes to extend them. An extension would be unlikely to get the approval of Congress.
Canada is also being hammered by Trump’s separate Section 232 tariffs on specific industries, including steel, aluminum, automobiles and cabinetry.
Trump is hoping to implement longer-term tariffs through Section 301 investigations but the process does require public consultations and reports.
Greer told CNBC that “if we find that countries have been involved in unfair trading practices” — such as subsidies, excess capacity or forced labour — “we can quantify that harm to U.S. commerce and then try to resolve that issue with that country.”
If the country doesn’t resolve the issue, Greer said, the Trump administration will impose tariffs.
It’s not immediately clear what the 301 investigation of Canada could cover, or if it will look beyond the justification of “forced labour.”
Ryan Majerus, a Washington-based partner in the international trade team at the law firm King & Spalding, said he expects “the investigation will focus on whether the targeted countries have implemented forced labor laws, similar to the U.S., that adequately address what is a clear and significant problem in the global supply chain.”
“And for countries that do have such measures and were named in this Section 301 investigation, the focus will undoubtedly be on the effectiveness of their enforcement efforts,” said Majerus, a former assistant general counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative during the first Trump administration.
The Federal Register notice published by the trade representative’s office about the investigation says that “Canada, Mexico, and the European Union have adopted measures intended to stop the importation or sale of products produced using forced labor.”
Canada already has legislation intended to curb forced labour in supply chains, which requires annual reports to the federal government. Canada has rules forbidding forced labour in supply chains and free trade agreements.
There are other long-standing irritants in the Canada-United States trading relationship and Trump has complained repeatedly about Canada’s dairy supply management system.
The 301 investigations are launching as Canada, Mexico and the U.S. prepare for a mandatory review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, better known as CUSMA.
Trump has cast doubt on his commitment to the trade pact, which was negotiated during his first term. He has called it “irrelevant” and has said it may have served its purpose.
The U.S. has officially launched negotiations on the CUSMA review with Mexico, which is also subject to a 301 investigation. Ottawa and Washington have not announced a similar move.
While Greer has claimed often that Canada has barriers that make it difficult to negotiate — he has cited provincial bans on sales of U.S. alcohol — he met with Canada’s new trade team in Washington last week.
Canada’s chief trade negotiator Janice Charette and newly appointed Ambassador to the United States Mark Wiseman were joined by Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc in that meeting.
2)Canada not a target for Trump administration’s new tariff investigations
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Kelly Geraldine Malone, March 12, 2026.
The Trump administration launched trade investigations of multiple countries Wednesday in an attempt to solidify the president’s tariff policies after the Supreme Court struck down his previous efforts to realign global trade.
Canada was not included in the list of countries targeted by President Donald Trump’s investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.
Mexico is on the list. So are China, the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Japan and India.
“The United States will no longer sacrifice its industrial base to other countries that may be exporting their problems with excess capacity and production to us,” United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a Wednesday news release.
“Today’s investigations underscore President Trump’s commitment to reshore critical supply chains and create good-paying jobs for American workers across our manufacturing sectors.”
The 301 trade investigations are the Trump administration’s latest attempt to implement worldwide tariffs.
The Supreme Court said last month Trump’s favourite tariff tool, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, could not be used for tariffs. The conservative-led court found that the U.S. Constitution “very clearly” gives Congress power over taxes and tariffs.
In response to the top court’s ruling, Trump implemented a 10 per cent worldwide tariff using Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act. Those tariffs do not apply to goods compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade.
Section 122 tariffs can only increase to 15 per cent and will expire after 150 days unless Congress votes to extend them. An extension would be unlikely to get the approval of Congress.
The Trump administration has also imposed Section 232 tariffs on specific industries, including steel, aluminum, automobiles and cabinetry.
Trump will have a longer-term tariff option if the Section 301 investigation finds a trading partner’s policies are unreasonable and discriminatory.
Greer told reporters Wednesday that he didn’t want to prejudge the outcome of the process. He said the investigations would examine excess industrial capacity and government backing that could give foreign companies an unfair advantage over U.S. companies.
The White House and Greer’s office have not yet responded to questions about Canada’s exclusion from Wednesday’s announcement and whether it will be included in future Section 301 trade investigations.
Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics at the Washington-based Cato Institute, said it would be difficult for a 301 investigation to conclude that tariffs on Canada are necessary.
Lincicome said in an email that “given the nature of Canada’s goods balance with the U.S. (oil or not), they could be unable to quickly point at a surplus and find the historic ‘overcapacity’ they need to justify tariffs.”
Canada’s trade surplus with the United States is largely caused by U.S. imports of Canadian oil.
Statistics Canada said Thursday that Canada’s merchandise trade surplus with the U.S. was $5.4 billion in January compared with $5.7 billion in December, while exports to the U.S. fell 3.8 per cent and imports from the U.S. dropped 3.4 per cent.
— With files from The Associated Press
3)U.S. Customs and Border Protection says at least 45 days needed for tariff refunds
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Kelly Geraldine Malone, March 6, 2026
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will not be able to immediately begin issuing refunds for President Donald Trump’s tariffs that were struck down by the Supreme Court.
In a filing to court Friday, Brandon Lord, a senior official in U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s trade office, said the department hopes to have a refund system in place in 45 days.
A judge with the U.S. Court of International Trade on Wednesday ordered refunds for companies that paid Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs and the fentanyl-related duties on Canada, Mexico and China.
That decision came after America’s top court last month concluded it was not legal for Trump to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, better known as IEEPA, for his sweeping and erratic tariff agenda.
The conservative-led Supreme Court found that the U.S. Constitution “very clearly” gives Congress power over taxes and tariffs.
That ruling did not say whether there should be refunds, leaving companies that paid the duties to sue the federal government.
Wednesday’s decision in the New York trade court came from a case brought by Atmus Filtration, a company in Tennessee, but Judge Richard Eaton’s decision said all importers who paid IEEPA duties are “entitled to the benefit” of the Supreme Court’s decision.
Lord said Customs and Border Protection is “not able to comply with the Court of International Trade’s order” but added that his department is working on a new system that will simplify the process for refunds.
Lord said that as of March 4, his department had counted 330,000 importers who made more than 53 million entries to pay the now-illegal tariffs. Lord said it amounts to about US$166 billion in refunds.
Under the current process, Lord said, it would take more than four million hours for employees to process the refunds. He added the agency is confident the new system could issue the refunds in a more timely manner.
Eaton would have to approve the process before it proceeds.
The White House has not yet responded to a request for comment about the trade court’s Wednesday decision. It’s not clear if the Trump administration will appeal the trade court’s order or take other action to slow down the process.
Some Canadian companies will be waiting on refunds but Canada was largely shielded from the IEEPA tariffs by a carveout under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, better known as CUSMA.
Trump declared an emergency at the northern border related to the flow of fentanyl last year in order to use IEEPA to hit Canada with 35 per cent tariffs. Those duties didn’t apply to goods compliant under CUSMA.
Trump replaced his IEEPA tariffs last week with a 10 per cent worldwide tariff using Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act. That duty can only increase to 15 per cent and it will expire after 150 days unless Congress votes to extend it.
That global tariff also does not apply to CUSMA-compliant goods.
None of the court decisions will affect Trump’s separate tariffs hammering Canadian industries, including steel, aluminum, automobiles, lumber and cabinets.