Canadian energy minister says Ottawa will respond to any US tariffs

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Canadian Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told CNN on Tuesday his country will respond shortly to any tariffs from the U.S. while also adding Canada was not looking to escalate or provoke trade tensions between the two countries.

The energy minister said Canada was not interested in being a competitor to the U.S. while responding to White House comments that Canada was viewed as a competitor by Washington.

The White House said on Tuesday the previously planned 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum products from the United States' northern neighbor and all other countries would take effect on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump reversed course on Tuesday afternoon on a pledge to double tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada to 50%, just hours after announcing the higher tariffs, in rapid-fire moves that scrambled financial markets. The switch came after a Canadian official also backed off his own plans for a 25% surcharge on electricity.

The back-and-forth between the U.S. and Canada further unsettled financial markets already battered by Trump's focus on tariffs.

Canada sought a positive outcome and would watch if the tariffs would come into effect, the energy minister told CNN late on Tuesday. When asked if he felt the tariffs may not go into effect, he cited lack of predictability from the previous back and forth.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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