Trump pauses 50% tariffs on Canada for 3 days, citing a new deal

President Donald Trump late Tuesday slammed the brakes on a wave of tariffs that were set to hit Canada at midnight.

On social media , Trump wrote: “I have paused the 50% Tariffs against Canada, that were scheduled to kick in tomorrow morning for a three day period, based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!”

Trump did not provide further details, except to reference the Keystone XL pipeline, which he said “may be awoken from the grave!”

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the deal.

The 50% duties would have impacted about $20 billion worth of U.S. imports from Canada, according to the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. The import taxes would have hit products ranging from hockey sticks, to some building materials, liquors and certain kinds of clothing.

The last-minute deal came after more than a week of furious meetings and technical talks.

On Monday afternoon, Prime Minister Mark Carney described the talks with the Trump administration as “very delicate and intense” but did not provide any further details. Carney and Trump spoke later that afternoon and again late Tuesday, Carney’s office told NBC News.

The prime minister previously said the threatened duties were a “direct violation” of the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement, which Trump pursued and inked in his first term.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned in a Tuesday statement that in the event of no deal, “the introduction of higher tariffs would damage both economies, drive up costs for U.S. families, further disrupt critical supply chains, and risk the 13 million American jobs that depend on” the North American trade pact.

The tariffs that were set to be imposed would have been the first-ever use of Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 . The law allows the White House to implement duties of up to 50% on any foreign trading partner that “discriminates” against U.S. commerce.

In talks with their counterparts, Canadian officials were not only seeking to have the Section 338 tariffs scrapped entirely, but also sought lower Section 232 tariffs on industrial products such as steel and aluminum, CBC News and Bloomberg have reported.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Tuesday that lower duties on Canada would be a “a boon to U.S. consumers, producers, farmers and manufacturers.”

A sticking point on Monday and Tuesday appeared to be a request for lower automobile duties, according to Bloomberg and Reuters, which also reported that U.S. officials did not want to cut current 25% tariffs on that sector to anything lower than 15%.

Trump did not say in his brief social media post if the duties would be lowered.