# Stock market sell-off deepens after Trump threatens to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium imports to 50% – as it happened

**Time for a quick recap**

**Global stock markets are falling again after Donald Trump escalated his trade war with Canada.**

On Wall Street, the **S&P 500** share index is now down 1.2% this session, a loss of 68 points, following a 2.7% tumble on Monday as ‘Trumpcession” fears gripped markets.

Those concerns have hardened today, after the US president announced he is doubling new tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum from 25% to 50% as a retaliation for the province of Ontario’s imposition of a 25% surcharge on electricity exports to several US states.

Ontario’s premier, Doug Ford, has posted that he had a productive conversation with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick about the economic relationship between the United States and Canada.

He adds:

> Secretary Lutnick agreed to officially meet with Premier Ford in Washington on Thursday, March 13 alongside the United States Trade Representative to discuss a renewed USMCA ahead of the April 2 reciprocal tariff deadline. In response, Ontario agreed to suspend its 25 per cent surcharge on exports of electricity to Michigan, New York and Minnesota.

**Investors were also cheered that Ukraine said it was ready to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia.**

**Shares in carmaker Stellantis — which has several manufacturing facilities in Canada — have fallen 5% today.**

**Stellantis’s stock was briefly suspended on the Milan stock exchange, as the fall triggered a circuit-breaker.**

Exporters including Daimler Truck (-5.3%), chemicals firm BASF (-4%) and Siemens (-2.3%) were also among the top fallers on the **DAX**.

Former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers criticised Trump’s move, warning that:

> It is a self-inflicted wound to the U.S. economy that we cannot afford, at a moment when recession risks are rising.

Our Politics Live blog has all the latest action:



**Keir Starmer has said he will not hit back with immediate counter-tariffs if Donald Trump imposes 25% levies on all steel and aluminium imports to the US on Wednesday.**

The prime minister discussed the issue with Trump in a phone call on Monday and is prepared for the tariffs to be imposed at 4am UK time on 12 March.



**The Canadian dollar has been strengthened over the last month, but Canadian steel and aluminum tariffs are now at 50%.**

Inflation and growth are needed to counteract the impact of increased tariffs.

**Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, explains:**

> “When Trump was elected it was clear that his economic policies contained the good, the bad and the uncertain. The markets initially focused on the good - in terms of his tax and regulatory changes for the US economy. Now the focus is on the bad - namely tariffs.”
> 
> The uncertainty around the execution of these adds to the uncertainty. Tariffs can have a triple whammy, adding to worries about inflation, growth and denting confidence.



**Former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers has condemned Donald Trump’s decision to impose 50% tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium imports.**

Writing on X, **Summers** says:

> The just announced tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum are the worst trade policy yet. Increasing the price of key inputs for the US manufacturing industries--who employ 10 million people--is what a U.S. adversary would do.
> 
> It is a self-inflicted wound to the U.S. economy that we cannot afford, at a moment when recession risks are rising.

Yesterday, Summers warned that the chances of a US recession this year are “getting close to 50/50” due to conterproductive economic policies.



**Douglas Ford, the premier of Ontario, has taken a swipe at Donald Trump, saying the US president must take the blame for a recession.**

Ford says he and Canada will not back down until Trump’s tariffs are gone for good.



**The Canadian dollar has soared to a record high above $990 a metric ton, Reuters reports.**

That’s a rapid reaction to Trump’s plan to double planned tariffs on Canadian imports.

**Reuters:** Hopes for a broad-based market recovery on Tuesday have been dashed. US markets had a mixed open, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones faltered when markets opened, while the Nasdaq initially rallied, led by some tech stocks including Tesla, Netflix and Meta.

However, news that President Trump has slapped a further 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports from Canada has sapped market confidence. Tariffs on these imports are now at 50% and are seemingly in retaliation for Ontario’s decision to impose a 25% tariff on electricity exports to the US.



**The Canadian dollar has soared to a record high above $990 a metric ton, Reuters reports.**

That’s a rapid reaction to Trump’s plan to double planned tariffs on Canadian imports.

**Reuters:** Hopes for a broad-based market recovery on Tuesday have been dashed. US markets had a mixed open, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones faltered when markets opened, while the Nasdaq initially rallied, led by some tech stocks including Tesla, Netflix and Meta.

However, news that President Trump has slapped a further 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports from Canada has sapped market confidence. Tariffs on these imports are now at 50% and are seemingly in retaliation for Ontario’s decision to impose a 25% tariff on electricity exports to the US.



**Douglas Ford, the premier of Ontario, has taken a swipe at Donald Trump, saying the US president must take the blame for a recession.**

Ford says he, and Canada, will not back down until Trump’s tariffs are gone for good.



**The Canadian dollar has soared to a record high above $990 a metric ton, Reuters reports.**

That’s a rapid reaction to Trump’s plan to double planned tariffs on Canadian imports.

**Reuters:** Hopes for a broad-based market recovery on Tuesday have been dashed. US markets had a mixed open, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones faltered when markets opened, while the Nasdaq initially rallied, led by some tech stocks including Tesla, Netflix and Meta.

However, news that President Trump has slapped a further 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports from Canada has sapped market confidence. Tariffs on these imports are now at 50% and are seemingly in retaliation for Ontario’s decision to impose a 25% tariff on electricity exports to the US.



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