Trump tariffs on Canadian steel imports: Announced, withdrawn and what happened in between

US President Donald Trump intensified the tariff war between the US and Canada by announcing extra 25% tariffs on Canadian steel imports which was later taken back in six hours in a major sequence of events on Tuesday. The tariff banter that happened between the two nations made stock market investors more nervous leading to a nearly 500 points fall in the Dow Jones.

Earlier, President Trump had announced a 25% tariff on steel imports from all countries including Canada to go into effect on March 12, which was part of broader trade policies to protect US industries. Tensions escalated between the two nations when Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford announced a 25% surcharge on electricity exports to the US states like New York, Michigan and Minnesota. The move was made as a retaliation against the existing tariffs and threats to impose more tariffs on Canada, which now has strained relations with the US.

In response to Ontario’s 25% surcharge on Canadian electricity to key states, President Trump directed Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to impose additional 25% tariffs on Canadian steel imports. This made the total tariffs worth 50%. The tariffs were announced to go into effect from March 12. In addition, Trump also threatened to impose more tariffs on Canadian Autos if Canada didn't drop the existing high tariffs.

Hours after Trump announced additional 25% tariffs on steel imports from Canada, Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford announced to take back the 25% electricity surcharge on electricity exports to the key states. Ford agreed to pause the surcharge on electricity in exchange for a meeting with the US counterparts on March 13.

Following the pause in surcharge on electricity, the Trump administration also took back the decision of additional 25% tariffs on steel imports. Peter Navarro, Trump’s top trade advisor confirmed to CNBC that the additional 25% tariffs won't come in place. However, the existing 25% tariffs on Canadian Steel imports will come into effect from March 12.

Later in the day, when Trump was asked about the stock market fall on Monday and fears of US recession, he said, the stock market doesn’t concern him. He said, “They are going to go up and going to go down”.