1) Ontario offers $11 billion in relief to businesses stung by U.S. tariffs

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Allison Jones, April 7, 2025.

Ontario businesses will see select provincial taxes deferred for six months, which Premier Doug Ford says will give them about $9 billion worth of relief amid global economic turmoil in the face of U.S. tariffs.

As Canadian and U.S. stock markets opened Monday, they sank for a third straight day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced widespread “reciprocal” tariffs last week.

Earlier Monday, Ford made good on an election promise to provide businesses with the deferral on taxes such as the Employer Health Tax and the Insurance Premium Tax, in order to provide them with some cash flow and keep workers employed.

“Today’s measures will help give workers and businesses the support they need in the face of growing economic uncertainty,” he wrote in a statement.

“We can’t control President Trump, but we’re in full control of the kind of future we build for ourselves.”

The six-month deferral period is retroactively in effect as of April 1, and ends Oct. 1.

Ford also announced that the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board will issue a $2-billion rebate to safe employers, in addition to a previous $2-billion rebate that was distributed last month.

2) (Updated) Trump reverses course on some tariffs but won’t change duties on Canada

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Kelly Geraldine Malone, April 9, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump partially reversed course Wednesday on his global trade war following days of market turmoil — but he’s not offering any changes to the tariffs hitting Canada.

Trump immediately paused for 90 days the levies on nations slapped with the highest duties under his “reciprocal” tariff regime. A White House official later clarified that a 10 per cent baseline tariff will remain in place for all countries.

The president has held fast to his plan to rapidly realign global trade through a benchmark “reciprocal” tariff since his return to the White House in January — but his tariffs have spread chaos throughout global markets.

The 10 per cent baseline tariffs on all imports to the U.S. from most countries, and higher duties on dozens of nations, came into force just after midnight Wednesday. Those higher tariffs included a 20 per cent levy on imports from the European Union, a 25 per cent tariff on South Korea and a 32 per cent levy on Taiwan.

Trump also increased tariffs on Chinese goods to 104 per cent and Beijing responded with additional duties on U.S. imports — pushing its total tariffs on U.S. goods to 84 per cent.

Trump posted on social media that Americans should “BE COOL!” and “Everything is going to work out” only a few hours before changing course and pulling back some of the most devastating duties.

On social media, Trump said he made the decision after more than 75 countries called his administration “to negotiate a solution.” Later at the White House, the president said he lowered the levies because “people were jumping a little bit out of line.”

“They were getting yippy, you know,” Trump said. “They were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid.”

While some countries saw a reprieve, Trump posted that China had shown a “lack of respect” and announced he’s increasing tariffs on Chinese imports to 125 per cent, effective immediately.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spread his own confusion by telling reporters that Canada and Mexico were included in the 10 per cent universal levy. The White House official later stated that the tariffs on Canada remained unchanged.

In early March, Trump imposed — and then partially paused — 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on Canada and Mexico, with a lower 10 per cent levy on energy and potash. Goods imported under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, known as CUSMA, do not face duties. Imports that fall outside the continental trade pact are hit with the 25 per cent tariff.

Tariffs on automobiles, steel and aluminum imports to the U.S. also remain in place.

Ottawa added to its retaliatory measures earlier Wednesday in response to the automobile duties by implementing similar tariffs on vehicles imported from the United States. Unlike the American duties, Canada’s tariffs will not affect auto parts or Mexican vehicles and components.

On Capitol Hill, America’s new top diplomat in Ottawa was confirmed by the U.S. Senate Wednesday at a fraught time in U.S.-Canada relations. Former Michigan congressman Pete Hoekstra said in a statement that “Canada is our most valuable trading partner, our largest source of foreign investment, and our largest source of energy imports.”

“As Ambassador to Canada, I will work with the Canadian government to review and strengthen our strong trading partnership, secure our borders, confront the deadly threat of fentanyl to our citizens, and build our national security co-operation,” Hoekstra said.

Trump has repeatedly said America doesn’t need anything from Canada. Canadian officials have said Trump’s tariffs undermine CUSMA and his goal is to crush Canada’s economy in order to annex the country.

Damage to the relationship with Canada came up repeatedly as U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer faced pushback from lawmakers on a congressional committee for a second day on Wednesday. Greer maintained his support for Trump’s trade agenda as Republican and Democrats alike questioned the president’s tariff rollout and the uncertain goals of his massive trade agenda.

Claudia Tenney, the Republican congresswoman from New York, said there’s been a 23 per cent drop in Canadian visitors to her district’s wineries and she’s concerned about what’s happening to the “historically strong relationship.” Local industries also rely on steel and aluminum from Canada, she said.

Richard Neal, a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, told the House Committee on Ways and Means on Wednesday that the trade war is “not only dumb, it’s unconstitutional.”

He pointed to CUSMA, negotiated during the first Trump administration, and said it’s up for mandatory review in 2026. Instead, Neal said, Trump has imposed tariffs on America’s closest neighbours.

Republican Rep. David Schweikert asked whether Greer and his team “spend time analyzing the infrastructure realities we have to actually be able to produce these products.”

Greer told hearings this week that there would be no exclusions or exemptions — but Trump has shifted course on that as well. The president told reporters at the White House that he would rely on instinct to decide whether any countries or industries should get tariff carve-outs going forward.

“You have to have flexibility,” Trump said.

3) China hits back at US and will raise tariffs on American goods from 84% to 125%

Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press

By Canadian Press, April 11, 2025

An aerial view of new cars waiting for shipment at a pier for ro-ro ships in Yantai city in eastern China’s Shandong province Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Chinatopix Via AP) CHINA OUT

China announced Friday that it will raise tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125% — the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown.

While U.S. President Donald Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised tariffs on China and they now total 145%. China has denounced the policy as “economic bullying” and promised countermeasures. The new tariffs begin Saturday.

Washington’s repeated jacking up of tariffs “will become a joke in the history of the world economy,” a Chinese Finance Ministry spokesman said in a statement announcing the new tariffs. “However, if the U.S. insists on continuing to substantially infringe on China’s interests, China will resolutely counter and fight to the end.”

China’s Commerce Ministry said it would file another lawsuit with the World Trade Organization against the U.S. tariffs.

Trump’s on-again, off-again measures have caused alarm in stock and bond markets and led some to warn that the U.S. could be headed for a recession. There was some relief when Trump paused the tariffs for most countries — but concerns remain since the U.S. and China are the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 economies, respectively.

The trade war between the U.S. and China “could severely damage the global economic outlook,” the head of the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said earlier this week.

Chinese tariffs will affect goods like soybeans, aircrafts and their parts and drugs — all among the country’s major imports from the U.S. Beijing, meanwhile, suspended sorghum, poultry and bonemeal imports from some American companies last week, and put more export controls on rare earth minerals, critical for various technologies.

The United States’ top imports from China, meanwhile, include electronics, like computers and cell phones, industrial equipment and toys — and consumers and businesses are likely to see prices rise on those products, with tariffs now at 145%.

Trump announced on Wednesday that China would face 125% tariffs, but he did not include a 20% tariff on China tied to its role in fentanyl production.

White House officials hope the import taxes will create more manufacturing jobs by bringing production back to the United States — a politically risky trade-off that could take years to materialize, if at all.

4) Trump’s tariff turnaround shows he’s vulnerable to pressure, says former negotiator

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Kelly Geraldine Malone and Kyle Duggan, April 11, 2025

Canada’s former top trade negotiator said Thursday that if nations around the world co-ordinate their responses to Donald Trump’s global trade war, the U.S. president would be more likely to back away from tariffs sooner.

Speaking on a trade panel at the left-leaning Broadbent Institute’s conference in Ottawa on Thursday, Steve Verheul said that Trump’s abrupt change of course this week shows his administration is vulnerable to financial and market pressures.

“I think retaliation can be a useful tool, and it’s unfortunate that most of the rest of the world didn’t see it that way,” Verheul said. “Because I think if there had been a more co-ordinated response from countries around the world, then we could have seen this fall away even more quickly.”

As U.S. stocks dropped again Thursday, continuing a tumultuous week in the markets, Trump said he thinks “we’re in very good shape.”

“We think we are doing very well,” Trump said during a meeting with his cabinet Thursday. “Again, there will be a transition cost and transition problems, but in the end it’s going to be a beautiful thing.”

Despite the market rally after Trump abruptly reversed course Wednesday by pausing his so-called “reciprocal” tariffs for 90 days, much of world trade remains under massive U.S. duties.

Trump kept in place a universal 10 per cent tariff, as well as 25 per cent duties on steel, aluminum and automobile imports to the United States.

The president also pushed up tariffs on Chinese imports to 125 per cent.

The White House confirmed Thursday that the tariffs stack on top of fentanyl-related duties, adding up to a 145 per cent tariff on Chinese imports.

Beijing’s 84 per cent retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products came into force on Thursday — escalating the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

U.S. tariffs on Canada have not changed.

Chad Wolf, former acting U.S. secretary of homeland security under Trump, addressed the right-leaning Canada Strong and Free Network Conference in Ottawa on Wednesday. Wolf said Trump’s chaotic approach to trade policy is “by design” and a “feature, not a bug” of the administration.

“I did talk with (former U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer) a couple weeks ago and he said, ‘Look Chad, if anyone talks to you and says they know what’s going on — they don’t know what’s going on,'” said Wolf.

Lighthizer, who served in the first Trump administration, is scheduled to address that same conference on Friday. His remarks will not be open to the media.

Wolf said the administration works on “Trump time” and advised Ottawa to look for quick, immediate wins to sustain its longer-term efforts with the president, who views the world in a “transactional” way and expects speedy results.

Prime Minister Mark Carney posted on social media Wednesday that the reciprocal tariff pause was a “welcome reprieve for the global economy” but upcoming negotiations with countries around the world will result in a “fundamental restructuring of the global trading system.”

Carney, who spoke with Trump by phone in late March, said the president has agreed to begin negotiations on a new economic and security agreement after Canada’s April 28 election.

Canada and China are the only countries so far to maintain retaliatory tariffs on the United States. The European Union announced a 90-day pause on its countermeasures Thursday.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Wednesday that if Canada keeps its retaliatory measures in place, it “would be a really, really bad choice.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford told CNN on Thursday that he was “shocked” when Trump’s tariffs on Canada were not included in his 90-day pause. He said Canada would be ready to drop its retaliatory measures “tomorrow” if Trump abandons his tariffs.

Verheul served as Canada’s chief trade negotiator from 2017 to 2021 when the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, also called CUSMA, was negotiated during the first Trump administration.

He said retaliatory tariffs are an important tool for pushing back on unfair trade actions and can help to balance positions at the negotiating table.

The 90-day pause will see dozens of countries attempt to negotiate an end to the tariffs. Lutnick said Thursday that there aren’t enough hours in the day to talk with all the countries that have reached out.

“We are getting the respect we deserve now,” he said.

Verheul said no matter what the United States’ trade partners do, Trump could very well decide to reimpose tariffs at some point.

If that happens, he said, and if countries co-ordinate their response, Trump’s tariffs wouldn’t last long and the multinational effort also would send a strong message to the Trump administration.

“And I think that would be a significant rebuke to the U.S. about the merits of going in that kind of direction and completely obliterating trade laws that we’ve all operated under for the last 75 years,” Verheul said.