US-Canada trade war heats up as Trump doubles metals tariffs, then backs off | U.S. & World [Video]

By Jeff Mason, Andrea Shalal and David Ljunggren

WASHINGTON/OTTAWA (Reuters) – President Donald Trump reversed course on Tuesday afternoon on a pledge to double tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada to 50%, just hours after announcing the higher tariffs, in rapid-fire moves that scrambled financial markets. The switch came after a Canadian official also backed off his own plans for a 25% surcharge on electricity.

Trump’s latest salvo, which whipsawed financial markets and rekindled fears of inflation, followed Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s announcement that he would place a 25% surcharge on the electricity Canada’s most populous province supplies to more than 1 million U.S. homes unless Trump dropped all of his tariff threats against Canada’s exports into the U.S.

Faced with Trump’s 50% tariff threat, Ford agreed to suspend the surcharge and meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington on Thursday.

The White House then announced that only the previously planned 25% tariffs on steel …