AsianFin -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signaled much more trading partners would face new tariffs imposed by his administration, and doubted the outlook of a trade deal with Canada by the August 1 deadline.
Credit：U.S. Department of Defense
Trump said he expected to letters dictating tariff rates for around additional 200 countries in the coming days, and he viewed most rates as essentially settled at this point. The president made remarks before departing on a trip to his golf course in Scotland, where he planned to meet the British prime minister Keir Starmer on Saturday.
Trump played down the idea that Britain would be able to trade an elimination of their digital services tax for further reductions to steel and aluminum tariffs. “If I do it for one, I have to do it for all,” he said. The president expressed confidence that the new around of talks between senior U.S. and Chinese officials could yield progress. He said both countries have “confines of a deal.”
Trump also planned to meet with European Commission President is set to meet Trump in Scotland this weekend in a bid to secure a deal. He described von der Leyen as a “highly respected woman” and repeated a "50-50" chance of a U.S.-EU deal, which he touted as “the biggest deal of them all if we make it.”
However, Trump singled out Canada, another major U.S. trading partner, as he showed skepticism on prospects of the bilateral trade agreement. "We haven't really had a lot of luck with Canada," Trump told reporters. "I think Canada could be one where there's just a tariff, not really a negotiation."
Ottawa didn’t comment on Trump’s remarks, but Canadian officials these days have suggested the chances of a deal by August 1 is unlikely. Trump on July 10 disclosed a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, notifying him of a tariff of 35% of all Canadian imports starting August 1, separating from all sectoral tariffs. Carney later that day said Canada will continue the trade talks with the U.S. towards “the revised deadline of August 1.”
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on July 11 said the upcoming tariffs on Canada did not cover goods imported under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and the 35% rate would be an increase from the current 25% tariff on imports from Canada. Navarro encouraged Canada to continue negotiating with the U.S. to lower trade barriers, though said "the Canadians were very, very difficult, and they've always been very difficult" in comparison to Mexico, which he described as "pure joy to deal with" during trade talks.
Carney last week for the first time acknowledges that some of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration may still here to stay even though Canada can reach a trade deal with the United States. “There is not a lot of evidence right now, with regards to negotiations, of any country or jurisdiction” escaping U.S. tariffs, Carney said on July 15.
"We've made progress, but we have a lot of work in front of us,” said Canada’s International Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc on Thursday after two-day talks with U.S. counterparts in Washington. LeBlanc,who overseas U.S.-Canada trade, said Canada would take the time necessary to get the best deal possible.
