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President Donald Trump dialed back his latest trade-war threat against Canada hours after making it, while downplaying the risk of a tariff-led recession that’s sent US markets into a nosedive.
Trump’s roller-coaster day saw him threaten to double duties on Canadian steel and aluminium to 50 percent after Ontario announced plans to place a surcharge on electricity sent to the US, only to retreat back to plans for his previously announced 25 percent rate after the provincial government backed down. The episode rattled markets already bracing for the worldwide metal levies set to hit at midnight, and encapsulated the frantic and mercurial tariff barrage that has spooked investors and befuddled corporate leaders over the past six weeks.
Major stock indexes were down some 10 percent off their peaks amid escalating concerns that the world’s biggest economy may be about to stall.
Trump himself fueled the recession talk as recently as Sunday, declining to rule out the possibility in a Fox News interview.
At the White House late Tuesday, he struck a more upbeat note when asked if he was worried about a downturn.
“I don’t see it at all. I think this country’s going to boom,” he said.
And he played down the markets slump, too. They’re “going to go up and they’re going to go down,” Trump said. “Doesn’t concern me.” Still, only hours later he told top executives gathered at a meeting of the Business Roundtable to brace for more tariffs, saying rates could even go higher.
The president said increased levies simply meant it was “more likely” companies would move their operations inside the US. “The biggest win is not the tariff — that big win is a lot of money — but the biggest win is if they move into the country and produce,” Trump said.
He told the executives that he’s putting a priority on speedy approvals, particularly regarding environmental regulations, and planned to soon announce a major electricity project, according to a person familiar with the session. – Bloomberg
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