Trade Cases

Freeland: No Timeline for U.S. Removal of Section 232

Written by Tim Triplett


Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says it would be in the best interest of both Canada and the United States to lift tariffs the countries now impose on each other, but she offered no timeline on when that might occur.

Responding to a press question yesterday on the prospects that the U.S. Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum might be lifted soon, Freeland reiterated Canada’s view of the tariffs. “We believe these measures to be unjustified and illegal, and that is why we are challenging them at the WTO…. That is why Canada imposed July 1 a measured dollar-for-dollar retaliatory response.

“We also think that it is overwhelmingly in the best interest of both Canada and the United States for these reciprocal tariffs to be lifted,” she added. “It is certainly reasonable to think that with…the agreement in principal around the new trade deal, that positive momentum should bring Canada and the United States to simply say it is time to lift these tariffs.” But she did not speculate on when that might happen.

Latest in Trade Cases

Leibowitz: Trump 2.0 signals Cold War 2.0 trade and China policies

China is one of the elephants in the room as the transition to Trump 2.0 continues. While the people and policies are still being formulated, it’s possible to detect a strategy for the new Trump administration. I think there are two imperative issues that the new administration needs to balance. The Trump strategy will, I believe, follow the following points. First, trade is one of the issues that got President Trump elected in 2016 and 2024—it nearly got him elected in 2020, save for the pandemic. If President Trump had won in 2020, I might be writing chronicles about the end of his eight years in the White House now instead of projecting what the next Trump administration would accomplish or break. Oh, well—that’s life. Trade will necessarily be a key feature of relations with China for the next four years.