The Trump administration announced a new set of commercial measures in dozens of countries on Wednesday. And if the new rules have their heads swimming, you are not alone.
In summary, Canada was saved from the worst, but current measures will still have mass implications for this country and the rest of the world.
Here are answers to some frequent rates questions.
Ok, then what happened yesterday?
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced new tariffs in most of the world in front of a crowd gathered in the Rose Garden of the White House, for a day that had been calling “day of liberation” in the period prior to the event.
The president said he would apply “a minimum baseline rate of 10 percent” in all goods that enter the US. UU., Which will enter into force on April 5. For countries that, according to him, scam the United States, that number rises. These “worse offender” tariffs come into play on April 9.
The representatives of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, were making the rounds on Thursday morning, defending their global tariff plan as the rates of shares fell in response.
Everything was detailed in a large table, broken down by the country, which the president used to articulate his message to the crowd.
Canada and Mexico were exempt from that 10 percent figure and any additional rate.
Does that mean that Canada is free of rates?
No, there are simply new ones.
Aluminum and steel that went from Canada to the United States were already being argued to 25 percent before today. Those rates will continue.
A 25 percent tariff on all cars made abroad, including Canadians, also enters into force today. This measure was one that we saw coming, given the White House announced those details at the end of March.
Is there any exception?
Yes, because nothing can be simple in a commercial war.
The assets that comply with the United States-Mexico (Cusma) agreement of Canada (Cusma) will not see rates, but those that are not taxed will be taxed at 25 percent. The energy and potash not compatible with USMA would see a lower 10 percent rate.
The White House also said that importers who bring cars to the United States under Cusma will have the opportunity to certify their American content. The 25 percent rate would only apply to the car parts that are not made in the United States.
What about the rest of the world?
In general, Asia was beaten by new rates. China obtained a rate of 34 percent, Vietnam will pay a 46 percent rate, Thailand’s was 36 percent and Cambodia was 49 percent, to name a few.
Many Latin American countries, such as Colombia, El Salvador and Argentina, are being taxed at 10 percent.
The European Union also received a rate rate of 20 percent In all goods.
Lesotho and Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a small group of French islands off the coast of Newfoundland, have the highest rates with 50 percent.
Why are Trump doing this?
Trump has called these “reciprocal rates”, which means that the United States is doing to others what they think they are being done.
A truly reciprocal tariff would simply coincide with what other countries charge importers to bring goods to the country. For example, if Canada put a five percent tariff on the wine that entered the country from the United States, a reciprocal tariff would also see the United States impose a five percent rate on Canadian wine. Many of these new general levies are not reciprocal rates.
The President claimed again yesterday That the United States “subsidizes” many other countries by allowing them to send more of their assets to the US.
For example, it is often repeated that the United States subsidized Canada for a sum of $ 200 billion a year. This is false, however, the 2024 figure was $ 63.3 billion of the United States.. And that number is actually the commercial deficit between the two countries, which means that the United States buys more from Canada than we buy from them.
The president has also said that these measures will bring the manufacture back to the US.Make America rich again“
The administration has also cited an emergency of drugs and migrants on the border as a justification for its tariffs in Canada, although, again, the validity of that statement has been disputed. The White House has used a national emergency statement to put tariffs in Canada so far.
The White House said yesterday that if that emergency disappeared, then the rate of goods that do not meet the USMCA will fall from 25 percent to 12 percent.
Does Canada have retaliation rates at this time?
Yes. Canada for the first time imposed 25 percent tariffs on US goods worth $ 30 billion on March 4. Another $ 29.8 billion of US goods were slapped with that same 25 percent on March 13.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced another 25 percent rate on Thursday, this time in all cars that arrive in Canada from the US. This coincides with the massive automotive tariffs than the US.
How bad are automatic tariffs for Canadians and car manufacturers here?
It is expected to have a devastating impact.
Already today, the Stellantis assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario, says They are stopping operations For two weeks, largely due to these rates in the automotive industry. A Stellantis spokesman said that some 3,200 Canadians would be affected by the closure.
Brian Kingston, president and CEO of the Canadian Association of vehicle manufacturers, says that the American vehicle industry operates in a “just in time” model, which means that the pieces reach the factories just before they need them. It helps the industry to be efficient, but that is why the impacts feel so suddenly.
He adds that these rates will increase the costs for car manufacturers, which will be transmitted to consumers and, ultimately, will mean that fewer people will buy, which will result in less production in factories. Economist and Professor Colin Mang He told CBC earlier this week These tariffs could increase the price of the decal of a new car for thousands of dollars.
Kingston says that the stem for cars depending on how much of them are made by US pieces is positive: more than 50 percent of a car gathered in Canada could have parts made in the US. UU., So it will considerably reduce the 25 percent rate.
But he adds that he does not want to sweeten the situation: he says that it is still a “significant cost”, only one that is a little less than what their European or Asian competitors will face.
Will this also harm the United States automotive industry?
Yes. The American automotive industry is massively intertwined. Some parts cross the borders between Mexico, Canada and the United States A handful of times before finishing in a car.
Canada and the United States signed an automatic pact in 1965 and have worked together since then to build a unique automotive industry that would be as efficient and affordable as possible.
The Stellantis car manufacturer has confirmed that it is closing its assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario, for two weeks, largely due to US tariffs in imported vehicles. Local Unifor 444 estimates that approximately 4,500 people work in several works and operations in the factory.
He Stellantis spokesman said These assembly plants both in Canada and Mexico will be temporarily inactivated. The company also said that 900 employees in US plants will be temporarily fired, although there are no plants there will stop production.
Out of North America, the German manufacturer Volkswagen also said They will charge an import rate In all cars reached by the 25 percent rate of the United States, they have also stopped vehicle shipments from Mexico to the United States by train and say that cars that arrive from Europe by boat will remain in the ports, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Ok, enough details. What does all this mean in the overview?
In general, these tariffs will see the costs increase and affect the global order as we know it.
Eric Miller, head of the consultant Rideau Potomac in Washington, said that this will mean that less international trade will be carried out worldwide, which will reduce the choice of consumer and damage the income of people around the world.
Trump’s goal is also to change where manufacturing is carried out, bringing from abroad back to the United States, but relocating such facilities takes a long time and a lot of money. Given the nature of the stop and start of the tariff policy of the new US administration. So far, trade expert Chad Bown He told CBC You are not sure that companies want to make those massive changes yet.
It is likely that punitive actions to the United States also continue, according to Miller, while other countries seek to fight Trump’s tariffs. This will lead even more to the relationship of the United States with other Western countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, he says.
Front burner29:13Trump’s commercial war becomes global
“It will underline these traditional allies that the United States is not a reliable disturbing ally that can be counted and trusted,” Miller told the CBC’s Front burner.
Miller says that these changes stop abruptly to the way the world tends to do business.
“You have essentially seen a lack of work of the economic model that the world and North America have been pursued since the mid -1980s, where there is less economic interdependence, there is less international trade. There is less openness for international trade,” said Miller.
And Miller says that world order could never be before Wednesday.
