President Trump has ordered global tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum of 25%. After some jockeying, which included threats by the Ontario premier to levy a 25% surcharge on electricity delivered to bordering states in the United States, the premier and Commerce Secretary Lutnick agreed to further discussions on revisions to the USMCA.

Global markets have been gripped by a sense of risk aversion ever since U.S. President Donald Trump triggered a tit-for-tat tariff war between the U.S. and its trade partners, which analysts have said could stoke inflationary pressures and trigger an economic slowdown.

Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to escalate a global trade war with further tariffs on European Union goods, as major U.S. trading partners said they would retaliate for trade barriers already erected by the U.