TRUMP ROLLS THE DICE ON THE ECONOMY, LONG HIS TOP ISSUE

“This will go into effect TOMORROW MORNING, March 12th,” Trump warned.

The 25% tariff doubles a previous 25% metals tariff that was scheduled to go into effect just after midnight.

“If other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada, I will substantially increase, on April 2nd, the Tariffs on Cars coming into the U.S. which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada,” Trump said. “Those cars can easily be made in the USA!”

Trump’s post comes after Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on Monday a 25% electricity surcharge that will primarily affect roughly 1.5 million Americans living in three states reliant on Canadian energy: Minnesota, New York, and Michigan.

Ford also threatened to increase the levy and cut off electricity “entirely” if Trump responded with more tariffs, which Trump announced on Tuesday.

“I apologize to the American people that President Trump decided to have an unprovoked attack on our country, on families, on jobs, and it’s unacceptable,” Ford later told MSNBC, reacting to Trump’s newest tariffs. “Let’s work together. Let’s get to the table. He has issues, and let’s sort this out.”

Ford also said he had talked to the governors of New York, Michigan, and Minnesota, as well as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and the president.

Trump’s embrace of tariffs against Canada and Mexico, along with the uncertainty it brought, has caused a significant downturn on Wall Street. Economists have repeatedly warned that tariffs could initiate a recession in the U.S., and stock markets have tumbled in recent days.

The Trump administration has downplayed those fears.

Ford predicted that if Trump doesn’t back down from the escalating trade war, pensions would suffer, assembly plants would shut down, and the market would collapse.

“I’m not too sure why he continues to attack his closest friends and allies, but we need the American people to speak up,” Ford said. “We need those CEOs to actually get a backbone and stand in front of him and tell them this is going to be a disaster. It’s mass chaos right now.”

Trump originally hit Canada with 25% tariffs and a lesser tariff of 10% on energy resources from the country, which went into effect on March 4. That same day, Canada announced it would place retaliatory 25% tariffs on $21 billion worth of goods imported from the U.S.

But two days later, the president gave a one-month reprieve from the 25% tariffs for goods falling under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the North American free trade agreement Trump negotiated during his first administration, after the spat with outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, the “Big Three” auto companies, were also granted a one-month reprieve from the tariffs after industry leaders met with Trump. 

That tentative truce appears to be over.

“Also, Canada must immediately drop their Anti-American Farmer Tariff of 250% to 390% on various U.S. dairy products, which has long been considered outrageous,” Trump wrote, likely referring to the reciprocal tariffs on lumber and dairy products he threatened against the northern neighbor last week.

The president also said he would soon declare a national emergency on electricity within the threatened area of Ontario’s tariffs against the U.S.

The move is likely a signal to Canada’s incoming Prime Minister Mark Carney that he should pressure Ford into dropping the electricity surcharges against the U.S., although Carney has indicated he, too, will not cave to bullying from Trump.

Ford told MSNBC on Tuesday that he talked with Carney recently.

“I spoke to him yesterday. He’s a very bright individual. He understands finances like no other person, and we need to sit down, which we will tomorrow,” Ford said. “We’re going to have breakfast tomorrow morning, and we’ll have a strong strategy. He understands that it’s not the American people. It’s one person, and that’s President Trump.”  

Trump continued his long-shot campaign to make Canada the 51st U.S. state in his post on Truth Social.

“The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State. This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear,” Trump wrote. “Canadians taxes will be very substantially reduced, they will be more secure, militarily and otherwise, than ever before, there would no longer be a Northern Border problem, and the greatest and most powerful nation in the World will be bigger, better and stronger than ever — And Canada will be a big part of that.”

Emily Hallas contributed to this report.