File Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump (R) welcomes visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Oct. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)
WASHINGTON/OTTAWA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The United States and Canada reached a deal on Friday under which Washington will lift additional tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports it imposed over "national security" concerns.
According to a joint statement issued by the two countries, they agreed to eliminate, no later than two days, all tariffs the United States imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 on imports of aluminum and steel products from Canada, as well as all tariffs Canada imposed in retaliation.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement on Friday that the decision is terrific news for Canadian steel and aluminum workers, their families, and many communities across the country.
The statement came after Trudeau spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump on phone Friday.
According to a press release by the Canadian Prime Minister Office, Trudeau and Trump discussed the new trade deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada and other issues during their phone communication.
Washington and Ottawa also "agree to terminate all pending litigation between them in the World Trade Organization regarding the Section 232 action," the joint statement added.
The agreement also enables the importing country to impose duties of 25 percent for steel and 10 percent for aluminum "in the event that imports of aluminum or steel products surge meaningfully beyond historic volumes of trade over a period of time."
The United States imposed the metal tariffs on imports from its trading partners worldwide, including Canada and Mexico, which urged the cancelation of the duties during the three parties' negotiation process for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Trump has repeatedly called the NAFTA deal a "disaster," and has been reluctant to exempt Canada and Mexico from the steel and aluminum taxes even after the three countries signed the USMCA on Nov. 30.
