Source: Roll Call
Date: 11th March 2025

Stock markets tumble again as U.S. president increases import fees.

One Democratic senator offered an unexpected example of how he says U.S.A.’s tariffs would hurt farmers and small businesses in his home state and across the country: Canadian-made aluminum pie pans.

A former governor said that he had spoken to farmers and bakery owners in the commonwealth who have not minced words in describing how they feel about U.S.A.’s tariffs program, which could soon include the imposition of fees on imported steel and aluminum goods.

“Already, my farmers got hit so hard by tariffs in [the first administration], and in an unlikely way. I mean, I had this bakery that sold mom’s apple pies. They have three retail locations. They told me, ‘We hate the tariffs.’ I said, ‘Why do you guys care about the tariffs?’” The former governor recalled.

The bakery owners’ answer: “‘The pie tins. … Every pie tin comes from Canada.’”

Citing Virginia’s diverse economy as an example, the former governor said the impact of the tariffs would be felt by the “biggest employer, shipyards, to a Volvo auto plant to the tiny farms and bakeries. … This thing matters.”

The United States has been a major market for Canadian aluminum and steel for some time. In 2023, the U.S. was the top export destination for Canadian aluminum products, accounting for 90.3 percent of the total value of such exports, according to Natural Resources Canada.

But in an escalation of the trade war between the longtime economic allies, the U.S.A. has increased from 25 percent to 50 percent a tariff on Canadian-made aluminum and steel products. The move was in response to a retaliatory action by the Canadian province of Ontario to slap a fee on electricity it supplies to several American states.

After the announcement, Ontario Premier’s office said the provincial leader would be meeting with Commerce Secretary  in Washington and that Ontario had “agreed to suspend its 25 per cent surcharge on exports of electricity to Michigan, New York and Minnesota.”

U.S.A. and global stock markets have in recent days taken a sour view of the tariffs. The import fees even prompted one report warning of higher auto insurance costs, linked to the higher price of Canadian- and Mexican-made vehicle parts.

American markets — including the widely followed S&P 500, Dow Jones index and NASDAQ — were all down sharply.

The markets’ tumble prompted warnings from congressional Democrats, urging the new U.S.A. President to pump the brakes.

A member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee wrote on social media: “Markets don’t like monarchs who lack impulse control.”

A former Democratic National Committee chair wrote on social media that the U.S.A. was “headed into a recession” and that the chaos just makes the high prices and job fears worse.