Trump says US and Canada have reached last-minute deal to delay 50% US tariffs on Canadian imports

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Trump says US and Canada have reached last-minute deal to delay 50% US tariffs on Canadian imports

2026-08-19 11:25 Last Updated At：08-20 11:53

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday he was delaying the 50% U.S. tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian imports after the two countries reached a last-minute deal less than two hours before the sanctions were to go into effect.

The announcement, which Trump made on his social media platform, buys time for more negotiations and avoids, for now, another strain in already tense relations between the historic allies.

“I have paused the 50% Tariffs against Canada, that were scheduled to kick in tomorrow morning for a three day period, based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!” Trump posted on Truth Social.

If they had gone into effect as scheduled at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, Trump’s import taxes would have hit Canadian products ranging from hockey sticks to tongue depressors.

But the political impact would likely have been bigger than the economic one. Canada had threatened to retaliate against any new tariffs with levies of its own, aggravating a trade fight between countries that sold each other $880 billion worth of goods and services last year.

A White House proclamation said Canada had expressed a commitment to remove measures the Trump administration considers discriminatory against U.S. alcohol, dairy and motor vehicle exports. Canada did not immediately confirm those commitments.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement “substantial progress” had been made but that important work remained, confirming Canada had agreed to the three-day delay while negotiations continued.

Carney and Trump had spoken twice by phone in the past two days about the ongoing negotiations, including a call Tuesday afternoon, Carney’s office said, underscoring the last-minute push for a deal.

Both countries had reason to step back from the brink. Nearly 72% of Canada’s goods exports last year went to the United States. And the Trump administration would be taking a risk by imposing a hefty new tariff — paid by U.S. importers who try to pass along the cost to consumers via higher prices — ahead of November’s midterm elections. U.S. voters are already frustrated with the high cost of living.

“I don’t think either side really wants these tariffs to come into effect,’’ Ryan Majerus, a partner at King & Spalding and a former U.S. trade official, said before the delay was announced. “There’s a pretty strong push on both sides to find an off-ramp here.’’

Canadian Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Candace Laing said in a statement that the three-day tariff delay offered businesses some relief but fell short of the certainty a signed interim agreement would provide.

“This limbo state is not anyone’s preferred outcome,” she said, urging negotiators to reach a deal quickly.

Trump’s approach to dealing with Canada marks an extraordinary departure from the traditionally cooperative relationship between the two countries. Trump has hit Canadian goods with tariffs — in a push to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. — and has repeatedly made inflammatory comments about turning Canada into America’s 51st state.

Trump has made tariffs the centerpiece of his second-term economic agenda. Last year, he imposed double-digit import taxes on almost every country, justifying them by declaring the longstanding U.S. trade deficit a national emergency. The Supreme Court in February ruled that he’d overstepped his authority, striking down those tariffs and setting the stage for the federal government to pay refunds to importers.

So Trump has looked for other legal authority to impose tariffs.

To hit Canada, he reached back to the Great Depression, invoking Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to threaten 50% tariffs on products that account for about 5% of Canadian exports to the United States.

Nearly a century ago, with the U.S. and world economies in collapse, Congress passed the 1930 tariff law, imposing taxes on imports from around the world. Known as the Smoot-Hawley tariffs, named for their congressional sponsors, they are notorious among economists and historians for limiting world commerce and making the Great Depression worse.

Section 338 tariffs have never been used before.

Section 338 authorizes the president to impose tariffs of up to 50% on imports from countries that have discriminated against U.S. businesses. No investigation is required to justify the levies. Nor is there any limit on how long the tariffs can stay in place.

The U.S. is renegotiating a North American trade pact — the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement — that Trump strong-armed America’s neighbors into accepting in his first term. The threat of Section 338 tariffs gives the United States leverage to seek fresh concessions from Ottawa.

Gillies reported from Toronto.

Williams, Ramírez lead Guardians over White Sox 2-0 to cap comeback in five-game AL Division Series

CLEVELAND (AP) — Gavin Williams had 12 of a record 21 strikeouts by Cleveland pitchers, José Ramírez hit a go-ahead home run on a pitch just above home plate and the Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox 2-0 Saturday night to complete a comeback from an 0-2 deficit in their best-of-five AL Division Series.

Cleveland opens the AL Championship Series at Tampa Bay on Monday night, seeking its first World Series trip since 2016. The Guardians/Indians franchise hasn’t won the title since 1948, the longest drought among MLB teams.

Guardians pitchers set a record for strikeouts in a nine-inning postseason game and the most in any regular or postseason game since at least 1900. The White Sox got just three hits, put only nine balls in play and finished the series with 75 strikeouts and a .185 batting average.

“It was less about chase and more about being attacked in the zone and swing and miss in the zone,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Just didn’t have what it would have took to move some balls forward there.”

Cleveland became just the 11th team to win a best-of-five series among the 96 that fell behind 0-2, the first since the 2017 New York Yankees against the Indians and only the fourth to achieve the feat after losing the first two games at home.

Two days after saving Game 4, Williams became just the third pitcher in postseason history to get the last out of a game and start the following game when his team faced elimination in both.

He didn’t allow a hit until Kyle Teel looped a knuckle-curve into right field with two outs in the sixth, two innings after Ramírez homered for the second straight game, a two-run drive off Sean Burke.

After a walk loaded the bases, Erik Sabrowski relieved and struck out Munetaka Murakami on a foul tip, the pitcher letting out a yell.

Williams’ 12 strikeouts tied Cleveland’s record for a postseason game. He got 22 swings and misses, and his 24 strikeouts over three games were one shy of the mark for best-of-five postseason series.

“That was big-boy stuff today,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “We’ve seen other performances like that in the postseason, but to do it in this stage and these types of games facing three straight elimination and you have one of your starters say I will pitch whenever you need me to, super impressive.”

Hunter Gaddis followed Sabrowski and got four outs, and Cade Smith finished for his first career five-out save, striking out the side in the ninth. He blew a fastball by Tristan Peters for the final out, setting off a celebration at Progressive Field.

Chicago, the first team to reach the playoffs after three straight 100-loss seasons, has not won the World Series since 2005.

Ramírez homered on a knuckle-curve 0.74 feet above ground, the lowest pitch hit for a postseason home run since tracking started in 2008, according to MLB Statcast, and the lowest hit by Ramirez in his 14-year big league career.

Steven Kwan had singled leading off the fourth ahead of Ramírez's sixth postseason homer, which went just over the wall near the right-field line.

Murakami and Andrew Benintendi struck out four times each, and Teel and Chase Meidroth three times apiece.

Tampa Bay went 5-1 against the Guardians, including three shutouts. It will be the third postseason meeting of the teams following the Rays' win in the 2013 wild card game and the Guardians' sweep in the 2022 Wild Card Series.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here