President Trump rolled back some tariffs on metals, which include steel and aluminium goods on Thursday. The move comes shortly before the midterm elections, when many voters are worried about the rising cost of goods, and after the US House of Representatives voted to pass a resolution seeking to terminate the national emergency measures Trump used to impose tariffs on Canada.
Trump pressured Republicans to stay loyal to his tariff plans, but on Wednesday Trump faced a rare rebuke over his tariff regime, as members of his own party crossed lines to vote to scrap Trump’s duties on Canada.
Six Republicans joined with nearly every Democrat to pass Joint Resolution 72, which seeks to terminate a national emergency that Trump declared last February imposing tariffs on Canada. That move came even as Trump openly threatened lawmakers who crossed him in a Truth Social post, writing that Republicans who oppose tariffs “will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time.”
The development came as Trump has been considering exiting the North American trade pact, according to a report from Bloomberg, raising questions about the deal’s future and upcoming negotiations involving the US, Mexico, and Canada.
Trump has in recent weeks leveled new tariff threats at Canada and Mexico, part of a recent blitz aimed at allies that rivals his bluster from early in his second term.
Trump threatened to hit Canada’s aircraft imports with a 50% tariff and said the US would also decertify all new jets from the likes of Bombardier (BDRBF), claiming Canada has used certification hurdles to effectively ban the sale of US Gulfstream jets. He also threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Canada over that nation’s trade deal with China.
Meanwhile, Mexico is facing the possibility of levies after Trump promised to impose new tariffs on countries providing oil to Cuba.
Also, confusion has emerged over the trade deal between the US and India after the White House adjusted language around agricultural goods.
In the updated statement, the US has now removed a reference to pulses, a staple food in India.
Trump and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to a tariff deal earlier this month. Trump said the baseline US tariff rate on goods from India would drop to 18% from 25%. The US president also claimed that Modi had “agreed to stop buying Russian Oil,” which would further lower the US’s tariff rate on India. The White House confirmed that an additional 25% “secondary” tariff on India over its purchases of Russian oil would also be dropped.