President Donald Trump announced late Tuesday a temporary pause on 50% tariffs on Canada as both countries race to finalize a trade deal. The President’s announcement came hours before a series of tariffs set to cover about $20 billion worth of imports into the U.S. from Canada were set to take effect. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney released a statement moments later, confirming that there had been “intensive discussions” with the U.S. to “address outstanding trade issues.” “Substantial progress has been made, although there is important work still to be done,” he said.
Read More: Trump Imposes 50% Tariff Hike on Canadian Goods The tariffs will now be paused until Aug. 21, subject to the finalization of an agreement between the two countries. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the deal will include "comprehensive market access for all American goods, economic security commitments, digital trade alignment," along with other provisions. Trump added in his social media post that the Keystone XL pipeline—a cross-border oil pipeline project between the U.S. and Canada that was canceled by former President Joe Biden in 2021 after pushback from environmentalists, Native American tribes, and Indigenous advocates—"may be awoken from the grave," but did not provide further details.
The President later posted what appeared to be an AI-generated image of himself dragging the Keystone pipeline out of the ground. Neither side has provided further confirmation about the contents of the agreement. TIME has reached out to both the White House and the Prime Minister's office for comment.
Carney said earlier this week that he planned to speak with the U.S. President ahead of the tariff deadline. The announcement follows a period of negotiations between the two sides.
During a tour of a tire factory in Iowa last week, Greer told reporters that the U.S. and Canada were engaged in “constructive negotiations” but warned that if a “country retaliates” they would “take action.” Canada's minister responsible for U.S. trade, Dominic LeBlanc, and chief trade negotiator Janice Charette have been in Washington since last week for talks. The negotiations unfolded against a backdrop of ongoing grievances between the two countries, including Trump’s repeated statements about his desire to annex Canada and make it the 51st U.S. state—an idea Carney has strongly pushed back against. In August, Carney took a swipe at Trump, mocking the U.S.
President after a teleprompter malfunctioned in the middle of an on-camera speech. The tense relationship between the pair has also played out over the Gordie Howe International Bridge—a cross-border bridge connecting the two countries that has repeatedly become a source of disagreement between Washington and Ottawa. The last-minute tariff pause comes after more than a year of escalations between the two countries.
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