The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has decided to postpone for three days the application of a 50% tariff on Canada, which was set to take effect this Thursday, after reaching an agreement to resume the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, projected to connect Nebraska (USA) with Alberta (Canada).
"I have suspended the 50% tariffs against Canada, which were scheduled to take effect tomorrow morning for a period of three days, given that Canada and the United States, pending the finalization of the documents, have reached an agreement," announced the Republican magnate on social media.
The U.S. leader has linked this decision to the restart of the Keystone XL pipeline works, a project that, according to Trump, was "buried a long time ago by the 'sleepy' Joe Biden," his predecessor in the White House. "It could rise from the dead," celebrated the U.S. president when referring to the energy infrastructure.
This Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had already indicated that he would hold a conversation with Trump with the aim of negotiating the new tariffs set by Washington and trying to soften their impact on the Canadian economy.
The tariff package designed by the Trump Administration includes a 50% levy on a wide range of products, from wine to hockey sticks and cement, in addition to affecting the automotive sector. The volume of these measures could translate into an estimated economic blow of $20 billion (€17.28 billion).
The U.S. Administration has defended these new levies, arguing that Canada applies discriminatory treatment to certain exports from the USA, such as automobiles, alcohol, and dairy products, issues that are expected to focus much of the bilateral discussions.
Carney then stated that the Trump Administration's decision is part of "a series of unilateral trade actions by the United States" that he described as "measures and threats to Canadian sovereignty."