Trump won’t hit Canada with tariffs on his first day in office, reports say

New U.S. president Donald Trump will not impose damaging tariffs on Canada on his inauguration day, news reports say.

According to both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, Trump will instead sign an executive order today to investigate alleged unfair trade and currency practices by Canada, Mexico, and China.

The publications say the White House has confirmed Trump won’t be imposing tariffs on Jan. 20, when he’s sworn in officially at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

After winning the presidential election in November, Trump threatened to hit Canada with steep 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs in one of his first executive orders on his first day back in office.

Canadian government officials say Canada is ready to respond with countermeasures if Trump makes good on his threats.

Ottawa is also pumping $1.3 billion in new resources into border security in the hopes of convincing Trump not to impose tariffs.