President Donald Trump defended his latest controversial round of tariffs in an evening post to his Truth Social platform on Friday.
The new tariffs in question, which hit Canada with new duties on lumber and dairy that could reach up to 250 percent, have already sparked a fresh wave of outrage and uncertainty from observers.
"Canada is cheating the United States Farmers on USMCA," wrote Trump. "In 2024, Canada retained Tariffs on various U.S. Goods, particularly in protected sectors like Dairy that are operated under a supply management system. Some examples of Canadian Tariffs on U.S. Dairy outside of the limited quota include: Milk: Up to 243%; Butter: Up to 298%; Cheese: Up to 245%."
"These sky high Tariffs are part of Canada’s unfair, long-standing policy to shield domestic producers from foreign competition, especially in Agriculture," wrote Trump. "Our Great U.S. Dairy Farmers deserve fair treatment from Canada. Enjoy it while you can!"
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Trump's characterization of Canadian tariffs on dairy products is misleading, CNN noted — those extremely high rates only kick in if U.S. dairy exports exceed a certain threshold, which they have not exceeded for years. The system is controversial and frequently criticized by officials in dairy-intensive states like Wisconsin, but a trade dispute panel found in 2023 it does not violate the rules of Trump's USMCA trade agreement, put in place during his first term to update the decades-older NAFTA deal.
All of this comes as Trump waffles over when and how extensively to implement the much broader, across-the-board 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods, and 10 percent tariffs on energy.
Originally intended to take effect at the start of February, Trump delayed the tariffs 30 days. Then, shortly after they took effect and markets began diving in response to the move, Trump announced there would be another partial pause, where for one more month, goods already subject to USMCA would be exempt from the tariffs.
Trump's separate package of tariffs against China were allowed to go ahead as planned.
