U.S. buys 4 million barrels of oil a day from Canada but Trump says, ‘We don’t need anything they have’
President Donald Trump on Thursday doubled down on his escalating tariff plans, even as his economic agenda continued to rattle investors and contribute to a weekslong stock market sell-off.
“I’m not going to bend at all,” Trump said when asked about his tariff plans during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
“We’ve been ripped off for years, and we’re not going to be ripped off anymore,” he said.
Trump specifically said he would not change his mind about enacting sweeping “reciprocal tariffs” on other countries that put up trade barriers to U.S. goods. The White House has said those tariffs are set to take effect April 2.
He then singled out Canada, criticizing the top trading partner at length and declaring, “We don’t need anything they have,” while repeating his calls to turn the U.S. northern neighbor into the “51st state.” [Continue reading…]
Canada could impose non-tariff measures such as restricting its oil exports to the United States or levying export duties on products if a trade dispute with the U.S. escalates further, Canada’s energy minister Jonathan Wilkinson said on Tuesday.
“When we are talking about non-tariff retaliation, it could be about restricting supply, it could be putting our own export duties on products. It could be energy and minerals, it could be broader than that,” Wilkinson said in an interview with Reuters.
He also raised the possibility of using non-tariff measures on critical minerals, which could force the U.S. to rely even more heavily on China.
“Everything is on the table,” he said.
Canada is the top supplier of imported oil to the United States, providing around 4 million barrels per day mainly to refineries in the Midwest that are largely engineered to run its grades. [Continue reading…]