Economy

President Trump announced potentially crippling tariffs against Canada, only to suspend them for 30 days. What will satisfy him remains unknown.When I returned to Windsor, Ontario, the day before President Trump was set to impose potentially devastating tariffs on exports from Canada, fear was the city’s prevailing mood. A week later, following Mr. Trump’s suspension of a 25 percent tariff on most exports and 10 percent on oil, the mood has shifted more toward anger and the nation’s focus has moved toward alternatives to the United States.The Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit.Ian Willms for The New York TimesWhether Mr. Trump will impose the tariffs in early March remains unknown. But Matina Stevis-Gridneff and I found that whatever happens, relations between Canada and the United States have undergone a profound shift.[Read: Betrayed: How Trump’s Tariff Threats Tore the U.S.-Canada Bond]If the tariffs do come into effect, Windsor will be hit particularly hard. It has been nearly 60 years since Canada and the United States started integrating their automotive industries through a trade deal known as the auto pact. The North American Free Trade Agreement then brought Mexico into the mix.A 25 percent tariff would immediately make the movement of both finished vehicles and parts unprofitable, potentially leading to layoffs of thousands of people in Windsor.[Read: Across Border From Detroit, Bafflement and Anger Over U.S. Tariffs][Read: Trump’s Canada and Mexico Tariffs Could Hurt Carmakers]We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.US President Donald Trump has temporarily paused measures to close a tariff exemption on low-cost shipments from China while officials figure out how to tax the millions of packages that arrive in the US every day.In an amendment to an executive order signed on Wednesday and published on Friday, the White House said the so-called de minimis provision — which exempts shipments under $800 in value from tariffs and rigorous customs checks — would remain in place until “adequate systems are in place to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue”.Trump had cancelled the exemption in an executive order last week that imposed an additional 10 per cent tariff on goods from China, which the White House said was aimed at punishing Beijing for allowing the flow of deadly opioid fentanyl into the US. The rest of the tariffs remain in effect.China retaliated days later, announcing tariffs of 10 to 15 per cent on US liquefied natural gas, coal, crude oil and farm equipment, which are due to take effect from Monday.Trump said on Tuesday that he was in “no rush” to talk to his Chinese counterpart.The de minimis provision was designed to help US households and small businesses purchase low-cost items from abroad without making them subject to onerous customs checks. In recent years, it has proved a boon to ecommerce platforms that ship directly to consumers, such as China’s Shein and Temu.But had analysts warned that the move to cancel the exemption, which came into effect just days after it was announced, would force customs officials to apply the more complicated formal entry process to every package arriving from China.The US Customs and Border Protection estimates that it processes more than 4mn low-value shipments daily. A congressional select committee report in 2023 estimated that about 30 per cent of those packages came from Temu and Shein.The move would also make parcels formerly qualifying for de minimis subject not only to the additional 10 per cent tariff but also to existing trade levies, according to experts.The US Postal Service on Tuesday suspended receipt of packages from China, including Hong Kong, before backtracking one day later to accept shipments. USPS said it was working with customs officials to establish an “efficient collection mechanism”, as the rapid implementation of the directive increased workloads for customs officials and stoked turmoil for exporters and freight carriers.Chinese ecommerce sellers also said this week that some logistics groups were charging them withholding fees to cover the levies and other customs costs.US officials have long had the de minimis rules in their sights. Domestic retailers that purchase items from overseas in bulk have complained that the exemption gave Chinese ecommerce groups an unfair cost advantage. Former US president Joe Biden’s administration had proposed measures to tighten rules concerning the de minimis regime.A report from analysts at Nomura, the Japanese investment bank, estimated that China shipped $46bn worth of packages to the US under de minimis rules in 2024, and that scrapping the exemptions could knock 0.2 percentage points off Chinese economic growth in 2025. More

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President Trump indicated he was ready to broaden his trade war on Friday, saying that he would announce reciprocal tariffs on other countries next week.Such a measure would raise the levies the United States charges on imports to match what other countries charge on American products, a move that could trigger new trade fights.Speaking to reporters before a meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba of Japan at the White House, Mr. Trump said that the tariffs would restore fairness to trading relationships and eliminate U.S. trade deficits.Making trade more reciprocal, Mr. Trump said, would ensure “that we’re treated evenly with other countries; we don’t want any more, any less,” he added.It’s the latest indication that Mr. Trump is willing to use tariffs broadly and unsparingly. He has already imposed an additional 10 percent tariff on all products from China, in addition to the levies on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods in his first term.Over the past week, the president came within hours of imposing sweeping tariffs on Canada and Mexico, America’s largest trading partners, saying those countries were sending drugs and migrants to the United States. He ultimately paused those measures for 30 days after the countries offered him some concessions.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the worldDonald Trump announced Nippon Steel had abandoned its plan to buy US Steel but would “invest heavily” in the iconic Pittsburgh producer.At a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday, the president said the prospect of an investment in US Steel was “very exciting”, adding he would meet Nippon officials next week.“They’ll work out the details . . . I’ll be there to mediate and arbitrate,” he said.Earlier on Friday, Trump said he had not changed his mind about opposing Nippon’s $15bn acquisition of US Steel. The companies last month sued the US after Joe Biden’s administration in January blocked the proposed deal.One person familiar with the situation said details of the investment had not been finalised. The White House did not reply to a request for more information about what the two leaders had agreed. Nippon also declined to comment. The United Steelworkers union, which was the biggest opponent to the proposed acquisition, said it remained concerned about Nippon Steel.“Our union has had no contact with either company or the administration regarding reports of a Nippon investment in US Steel,” said David McCall, the union’s president.McCall added: “Our concerns regarding Nippon’s continued interest in US Steel remain unchanged. Nippon has proven itself to be a serial trade cheater with a history of dumping its products into our markets.”Two people close to the situation said that while a full takeover was off the table, negotiations would likely proceed towards a deal that shared “very similar” elements with the original proposed acquisition, and that US Steel would keep its name.They added it was unclear whether that would absolve Nippon from the $565mn break fee it was due to pay if the deal failed to go through.Earlier on Friday, Trump said he would consider hitting Japanese exports with tariffs if the US trade deficit with the Asian country was not eliminated and he pledged to unveil “reciprocal” tariffs on other nations next week.Speaking in the Oval Office before the meeting with Ishiba, Trump said tariffs were an option to tackle the US trade deficit with Japan, the most important American ally in the Indo-Pacific. In 2024, the US deficit in goods with the country was $68bn, compared with $55bn in 2020 before the end of his first term.Trump said Washington and Tokyo would work together to cut the trade deficit, saying “they want fairness also”. Asked about the threat of tariffs, the president said: “We didn’t discuss tariffs too much.”Ishiba said he was “unable to respond to a theoretical question” when asked whether Tokyo would retaliate.Show video infoTrump also said Japan would buy more US liquefied natural gas. Prompted by the US president, Ishiba agreed the Biden administration had made it harder for Japan to buy more American LNG. He said it was “wonderful” that more sales were being allowed. On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order to boost oil and gas production in Alaska, lifting Biden-era restrictions on drilling and prioritising the development of the state’s LNG sector, including granting permission for a pipeline and export terminal. Japan, the world’s second-largest gas consumer after China, is among the biggest importers of American LNG, which is mostly sold under long-term contracts with foreign utilities. The US government does not have a role in LNG sales. However, export capacity in the US, the largest in the world, is expected to nearly double from 2024 levels by 2028 as more terminals come online.Ishiba said: “We also want to improve the trade deficit that the US has towards Japan, so if we are able to buy those [LNG] at a stable and reasonable price, it would be a wonderful situation.” Beyond Japan, Trump said he would next week unveil “reciprocal tariffs” on unnamed countries, hinting at the universal levies he has vowed to impose on imports into the US. The comments about new tariffs marked another escalation in Trump’s rhetoric, and brought the US closer to the brink of a multi-front trade war with some of its closest trading partners and security allies.“I’ll be announcing that next week, reciprocal trade, so that we’re treated evenly with other countries,” Trump said. During the presidential campaign last year, he repeatedly warned he would impose a universal tariff on imports into the US. Earlier this week, Trump suspended until March 1 his plan to impose steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada, the US’s two largest trading partners, but proceeded with a 10 per cent levy on imports from China. Beijing responded with retaliatory tariffs that will take effect this weekend. More

U.S. employers added 143,000 jobs last month, somewhat fewer than forecast, while unemployment fell to 4 percent and hourly earnings rose.Can a labor market be hot and cool at the same time? That’s the picture painted by the latest federal hiring figures, which show a step down in job creation last month — as well as a drop in joblessness.Employers added 143,000 jobs in January, slightly fewer than expected, the Labor Department reported on Friday. But with large upward revisions to the prior two months and a decline in the unemployment rate to 4 percent, American workers still appear to be in good shape.“We have robust fundamentals, and relatively moderate hiring, but it’s very judicious,” said Gregory Daco, the chief U.S. economist with the accounting firm EY-Parthenon. “The unemployment rate is historically low, but frozen in the sense that you’re not seeing much churn — businesses are being cautious as to how they manage their work force.” More

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