(Washington/Ottawa) The U.S. government announced on Wednesday (November 26) a further one-year extension of tariff exemptions for some Chinese industrial and medical imports, with the original exemption period expiring this Saturday (November 29).
The extended exemptions cover 14 product categories related to solar energy manufacturing equipment and 164 categories covering a wide range of industrial and medical products, including electric motors, blood pressure monitoring equipment, pump components, automotive air compressors, and printed circuit boards. This is part of the trade truce agreement reached between the U.S. and China earlier this month.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued a statement on Wednesday saying that the extension follows the White House's announcement on November 1 of a historic trade and economic agreement between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In addition, Canadian Prime Minister Carney announced on Wednesday that new tariffs would be imposed on a range of steel products, including many made in the United States. Canada stated that this is to protect its domestic steel industry, which has been severely impacted by the trade war and the influx of cheap Chinese steel.
Carney said a new 25% tariff would be imposed on steel-derived products. The new tariffs will take effect on December 26, affecting approximately CAD 10 billion (S$9.24 billion) worth of imported products, including wind towers, prefabricated buildings, fasteners, and electrical wires.
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Bloomberg reported that a Canadian official revealed that about 40% of the items on the list are typically imported from the United States.
This is the first time Carney has imposed new import tariffs on U.S. products since he removed most of Canada's retaliatory tariffs in September.
Carney emphasized at a press conference on Wednesday that these measures were not intended to pressure the Trump administration. He said, "This is not targeting the United States; this is a global policy aimed at creating some market space for Canadian steel producers."
Canada's steel industry contributes more than C$4 billion to its GDP and employs at least 23,000 people. Following Trump's imposition of a 50% tariff on Canadian steel imports, the steel industry was one of the two sectors most severely affected.
Carney also said on the same day that trade negotiations between Canada and the United States have not yet resumed, and Canada is ready to participate in negotiations.
