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Trump Announces End of Steel and Aluminum Sanctions for Canada and Mexico
by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - The U.S. has gotten rid of its steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexican and Canadian exports, signaling a rebirth of negotiations for a new free trade deal between the three countries to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
On Friday the US and Canada announced that a 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% tax on aluminum would be lifted within 48 hours, with American tariffs on Mexican products set to be undone as well.
“I’m pleased to announce we’ve just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico to sell product without the imposition of major tariffs,” Trump said at the announcement.
Canada has seen American tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel as the main obstacles to ratification of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) crafted by the Trump administration and signed by the three countries last year.
“This is pure good news for Canadians,” said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Friday.
The USMCA updates crucial provisions of what Trump has deemed “the catastrophe known as NAFTA,” such as regulations governing e-commerce, which had not yet taken flight when the original deal was signed in 1993.
Aside from opening Canada’s dairy sector to American companies—long a point of contention for Trump—it also requires a greater proportion of car manufacturing to be done across borders and allows member parties to sanction one another for workers' rights abuses.