Navarro presses Canada for fairer trade talks as US slaps 35% tariff

Peter Navarro, a Counselor to the President of the United States, urged Canada to make an effort and keep its talks with the US on ways to reduce trade barriers.

This was just after the US President slapped a 35% tariff on the Nation. Navarro stated in an interview that he encouraged Canadian citizens to ask their leaders to negotiate fairly with the US.

His remarks reveal that US trading partners still have time to negotiate for lower tariff rates as the August 1 deadline is around the corner.

Navarro also noted that Trump’s tariff policies did not apply to products brought into the country through the trade agreement between the US, Mexico, and Canada.

Navarro finds Canadians very challenging in trade talks with the US 

Trump’s 35% tariff policies on Canada’s imports highlight that the president has ratcheted his trade talk and is focused on imposing tariff rates on the US trading partners after being involved in lengthy trade talks.

US-Canada trade talks did not resemble those of other trading partners subjected to reciprocal tariffs. Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, mainly focused on ensuring Trump did not impose higher tariffs on their imports.

Canada was initially subjected to a 25% tariff on imports from Country. The 35% tariff rate, which is set to take effect in August, was approximately 10% higher than the current one. 

However,  this was not as intense as expected. This is because the USMCA agreement, which includes most of Canada’s exports to the US, neutralized the situation.

On Friday, July 11, Navarro referred to Canada as a tough negotiator. In his opinion, Trump was doing the right thing as his tariffs counteracted higher taxes on US products and barriers to trade in other countries.

Navarro stated that they talked with both the Mexicans and the Canadians. From the talks, he claimed that dealing with the Mexicans was a true pleasure during trade discussions in Trump’s first term, when he helped create the USMCA agreement. 

He further explained that the Mexicans were tough negotiators, but they were also fair and reasonable. On the other hand, Navarro mentioned that he found the Canadians very challenging and noted that they have always been hard to work with.

Trump intends to subject several US trading partners to a blanket tariff ranging from 15% to 20%

Following Trump’s 35% tariff threat on certain Canadian exports on July 11, and with the possibility of raising taxes in several other countries, he intensified his trade talks in statements that affected stock prices and strengthened the US dollar. 

In a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, posted on social media, Trump highlighted that Fentanyl is not the only issue the US faces with Canada. According to him, they have a lot of tariffs, non-tariff policies, and trade barriers that create huge trade deficits for the United States.

The US president’s statement on Canada followed his remark to NBC News, where he pointed out plans to subject several US trading partners to a blanket tariff ranging from 15% to 20%. NBC reported that Trump mentioned that they would ensure that all the other countries pay, whether 20% or 15%. Based on his argument, they would figure that out. 

He also anticipated that the tariffs would be welcomed positively, revealing that the stock market reached a new high that day.

Notably, the existing global average minimum tariff rate is nearly 10% for almost all of America’s trading partners.

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