Trump Official Says Canada Tariff Hike Not Yet in Effect, Calls Ontario’s Anti-Tariff Ad ‘Election Interference’

‘[Trump] hasn’t put on a 10 percent tariff. He threatened to put on a 10 percent tariff,’ U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 15, 2025. Brendan Smialowski/AFP

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says U.S. President Donald Trump has not yet enacted the additional 10 percent tariff on Canada he had threatened to impose in response to the Ontario government’s anti-tariff advertisement. He also said the anti-tariff television commercial featuring former U.S. President Ronald Reagan is equivalent to “election interference.”

“[Trump] hasn’t put on a 10 percent tariff. He threatened to put on a 10 percent tariff,” Bessent told CNN’s Jake Tapper on the “State of the Union” program on Nov. 2. “It hasn’t been put on yet.”