Trade war widens as tariffs from, against US begin this week

The Trump administration is moving forward with new tariffs this week, escalating global trade tensions and prompting retaliatory measures from both Canada and China.China, Canada, and Mexico are the biggest U.S. trading partners, accounting for more than a third of all U.S. trade.Onboard Air Force One Sunday, President Donald Trump defended using tariffs.”All I know is we’re going to take in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs, and we’re going to become so rich you’re not going to know where to spend all that money,” Trump said. ” I’m telling you, you just watch. We’re going to have jobs. We’re going to have open factories. It’s going to be great.”But the president also didn’t rule out the possibility of a recession as the proposed taxes have roiled markets and the economy.”It takes a little time,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big.”This week, the Trump administration is implementing a 25% tax on metal imports to balance trade relationships and bring jobs back to the U.S.”We’re in a triage situation. Tariffs are an attempt to stop the bleeding from the hemorrhaging of jobs in America for the last 33 years,” United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said in an interview. “Tariffs aren’t the end solution, but they are a huge factor in creating and fixing this problem.”But major trading partners are also imposing their own tariffs in response. China has implemented a 15% tax on U.S. agricultural products while Canada has imposed a 25% tax on electricity delivered to the U.S.Canada is vowing to keep the tariffs in place until “America shows respect,” according to the country’s newly elected prime minister, Mark Carney.”He’s attacking Canadian families, workers and businesses, and we cannot let him succeed,” Carney said in a speech Sunday.Carney is a former Goldman Sachs banker and has led the banks of Canada and England. His work includes helping England navigate its exit from the European Union and managing the impacts of the financial crisis in Canada. He and other Canadians have doubled down on nationalism amid Trump’s trade war and threats to turn Canada into the 51st state. Some Canadians are also canceling trips to the U.S. and avoiding buying American goods.Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Canada starting Wednesday for a meeting with the Foreign Ministers of the world’s seven biggest economies, or G7.