“Effective August 1, 2025, we are implementing a 35 percent tariff on Canadian products entering the United States, distinct from other sector-specific tariffs,” Trump stated in a letter he shared on social media.
According to a report by NBC News on Thursday, Trump told Meet the Press host Kristen Welker that the remaining US trading partners who have neither received trade letters nor finalized framework agreements will be subject to a general tariff rate.
“We’re simply going to ensure that all the remaining nations are charged, whether that’s at 20 percent or 15 percent. We’ll finalize those details soon,” Trump indicated, as reported by NBC News.
The US currently has in place its “baseline” 10 per cent tariff on imports from Australia, the lowest rate seen for any country around the world.
However, Trump’s remarks could indicate that if he doesn’t reverse his position, that could as much as double by August 1.
Australian exports to the US only add up to about four per cent of the national total, but an increase could still affect steel, aluminium, and pharmaceuticals exporters in particular.
Trump’s letter to Canada comes after he sent more than 20 letters to countries this week informing them what rates their goods will be tariffed at come August 1, absent any trade deals.
Canada is the top buyer of US exported goods, importing US$349 billion ($531.9 billion) worth last year, according to Department of Commerce data. Tariffing Canadian goods could, therefore, backfire if additional retaliatory tariffs are put in place on American goods.
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Trump threatened to respond to any such tariffs by raising rates on Canadian goods.
Meanwhile, Canada shipped US$413 billion ($629.4 billion) worth of goods to the US last year, the third-highest source of foreign goods.
