Where Things Stand
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Confronting Canada: President Trump said in a social media post on Tuesday morning that he would impose an additional 25 percent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum, doubling the levies he planned to put in place on Wednesday, and reiterated his notion that Canada should be part of the United States. He framed such an outcome as inevitable: “The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear,” he wrote.
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Market uncertainty: Investors were struggling to understand Mr. Trump’s trade policies as he announced the heavier tariffs, which he described as a response to surcharges on electricity generated in Canada and used by U.S. customers. The S&P 500 was down again a day after Wall Street turned in its worst performance of 2025, spooked by Mr. Trump’s refusal to rule out the possibility his policies could trigger a recession.
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Spending bill: House Republicans are expected to vote Tuesday afternoon on a stopgap spending bill in a bid to avoid a government shutdown that would begin after midnight Friday. Mr. Trump has backed the bill to fund the government through Sept. 30 and called on Republicans to push it through. But Speaker Mike Johnson must navigate an extremely narrow House majority to ensure it passes if the Democrats oppose it unanimously.
Ana Swanson
International trade reporter
Trump doubles metal tariffs on Canada and presses anew for it to join the U.S.
President Trump escalated his fight with Canada on Tuesday, saying that he would double tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and threatening to inflict even more pain on one of America’s closest traditional allies as he pressed Canada to become part of the United States.
His comments sent jittery markets tumbling, with the S&P 500 down about 1 percent in early morning trading.
In a post on his social media platform, Mr. Trump wrote that Canadian steel and aluminum would face a 50 percent tariff, double what he plans to charge on metals from other countries beginning Wednesday. He said the levies were in response to an additional charge that Ontario placed on electricity coming into the United States, and he threatened more tariffs if Canada didn’t drop various levies it imposes on U.S. dairy and agricultural products.
“If other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada, I will substantially increase, on April 2nd, the Tariffs on Cars coming into the U.S. which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada,” he threatened.
Tariffs in Trump’s second term in office
As of March 6
Mr. Trump went on to say that “the only thing that makes sense” is for Canada to become the 51st U.S. state.
The moves will significantly escalate a confrontation with one of America’s largest trading partners, and call into question Mr. Trump’s intentions for one of its closest allies. Canadian officials first thought Mr. Trump’s idea of absorbing Canada into the United State was a joke, but they have more recently begun to take the president’s threats seriously.
Mr. Trump spent much of his social media post on Tuesday essentially cajoling Canada to become part of America, writing: “This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear. Canadians taxes will be very substantially reduced, they will be more secure, militarily and otherwise, than ever before, there would no longer be a Northern Border problem, and the greatest and most powerful nation in the World will be bigger, better and stronger than ever — And Canada will be a big part of that.”
“The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear, and we will have the safest and most beautiful Nation anywhere in the World,” he added.
Last week, Mr. Trump hit Canada and Mexico with sweeping 25 percents on all imports, before walking some — but not all — of those levies back a few days later.
Mr. Trump said the higher metal tariffs on Canada would be a response to a surcharge on electricity it exports to the United States. On Monday, Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, retaliated against Mr. Trump’s tariffs by adding a 25 percent surcharge to the electricity it exports to Michigan, Minnesota and New York.
Canada is in the middle of a political transition as it prepares to swear in a new prime minister, Mark Carney, an economist and central banker, to replace Justin Trudeau, who announced in January that he would be resigning after almost 10 years in office. Mr. Trump’s move would punish the entire country for a retaliation measure taken on by one province.
Vjosa Isai and Danielle Kaye contributed reporting.
Danielle Kaye
Business reporter
Stocks, which wobbled at the start of trading, fell further this morning after Trump said he would ramp up tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada and threatened to increase tariffs on Canadian cars. The S&P 500 is 1 percent lower, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is down 0.9 percent, extending yesterday’s declines.
Ana Swanson
International trade reporter
Trump is deepening a trade war with Canada this morning. The president said in a Truth Social post that he will add an additional 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum coming into the United States from Canada, doubling metal tariffs that he plans to put in place tomorrow morning. The president said the move was in response to Ontario increasing its costs on electricity coming into the United States. That, in turn, was in response to tariffs that Trump placed on Canada last week, roughly half of which he then suspended.
Ana Swanson
International trade reporter
Trump is also demanding Canada drop various tariffs it imposes on U.S. dairy and agricultural products. If those tariffs aren’t dropped, he is threatening to substantially increase tariffs on Canadian cars coming into the U.S. on April 2 “which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada,” he said.
Ana Swanson
International trade reporter
The president reiterated his notion that Canada should become part of the United States, saying it would make all tariffs “totally disappear” and make the country more secure militarily. “The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear, and we will have the safest and most beautiful Nation anywhere in the World,” Trump wrote. Canadian officials first thought this idea was a joke but are now taking the president’s threats seriously.
Maya C. Miller
Congressional reporter
The Republican leadership is relying heavily on President Trump to pressure rank and file members to support the stopgap funding bill. Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the majority leader, called Trump “our best whip” and pointed to the president’s successful phone calls that pushed recalcitrant members into line behind the budget resolution last month. “President Trump is a hands on-president, not just at the White House,” Scalise said.
Catie Edmondson
Congressional reporter
Vice President JD Vance is currently meeting with House Republicans in the Capitol ahead of an expected vote this afternoon on a stopgap spending bill to avert a shutdown at the end of the week. “Our vice president made it clear that, hey, they’ve only been in office six weeks, and so it’s hard to have any different outcome than where we are right now,” said Representative Mark Alford of Missouri. Many conservatives have typically been loathe to support stopgap funding bills that extend current funding levels.
Catie Edmondson
Congressional reporter
Representative Michael Cloud of Texas, who routinely votes against stopgap funding bills, says he will support the one House GOP leaders are putting on the floor later today. “If it wasn’t for the trust in the president and his administration, voting for a C.R. wouldn’t even be a conversation,” he said, using an abbreviation for a continuing resolution.
Danielle Kaye
Business reporter
Niraj Chokshi
The first few months of 2025 were “a little bit of a parade of horribles,” said Ed Bastian, the chief executive of Delta Air Lines, speaking at an investor conference on Tuesday. Delta, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines downgraded their forecasts for the first quarter of the year, citing declining government spending on travel, disruptive weather and waning consumer confidence in the economy and in flying, following a handful of major crashes.
Bernhard Warner
A contingent of C.E.O.s is heading to the White House later today to meet with President Trump, a day after downturn concerns prompted a stock market rout that shaved more than a trillion dollars off the value off of listed companies. The executives are likely to press for more clarity on Trump’s tariff policy as business confidence takes a hit, the DealBook newsletter reports today.
Bernhard Warner
Adding to investor jitters, equity analysts at Citigroup have downgraded their rating on U.S. stocks to “neutral,” from “overweight.”
