Doug Ford says waiting to let tit-for-tat tariffs "drag out" to 2 April would be the “worst thing” that could happen. As a reminder, Trump has promised to implement reciprocal tariffs on this date.

Ford stresses that he speaks only on behalf of his own province, Ontario.

Citing the “tumbling” stock market and lowered consumer confidence, Ford says “it’s absolute chaos out there”.

The S&P 500, which tracks the biggest American companies, fell about 2.7% yesterday - its worst day of the year. It was relatively flat on Tuesday.

Ford says that he hopes to have a productive conversation with US Commerce Secretary Lutnick, but warned: "By no means are we going to roll over, because we don’t roll over to anyone."

He says that "China is the problem" and that the US and Canada should focus on that.

"I'm not out to hurt the American people," he said. But, Ford added: "You have to play your cards."

Ford says he was in touch with governors of the US states who could be affected by a threatened power shutoff - including Tim Walz of Minnesota, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Kathy Hochul of New York.

Ford is asked if this means the American tariffs on steel and aluminium will not be hiked to 50%.

He responds by saying that US Commerce Secretary Lutnick has to speak first with President Trump, but adds that he is "pretty confident" the Americans will pull back.

"I am not speaking for them," he cautions.

Ford adds that the Canadian government has indicated to him that it plans to respond to any additional US tariffs with reciprocal dollar-for-dollar tariffs.

Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc will join Ford on the upcoming visit to Washington, he says.

“Both parties are heated and the temperature needs to come down," Ford said of his forthcoming visit to Washington.

"I thought this was the right decision.”

“They understand how serious we are about the electricity and the tariffs," Ford tells the press.

He says that this approach is better than the two countries going back and forth.

Doug Ford is now speaking in Toronto to reporters.

He says he just got off the phone with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who he says has extended "an olive branch" to Canadian officials and requested a meeting with them in Washington DC.

Ford says he will be attending those meetings in the coming days, and in the meantime he has agreed to temporarily suspend the surcharge his province had planned to slap on its electricity exports to 1.5 million American homes.

He notes that putting a tariff on electricity is something that Ontario will always have in its "tool kit", but he is looking forward to discussing with his American counterparts.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is due to speak any minute now at a news conference, which you'll be able to view by hitting the Watch live button at the top of this page.

Ford is expected to talk about President Trump's decision to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium in response to Ontario's retaliatory 25% surcharge on electricity that it sells to the US.

The White House has called Ford's move "insulting".

Ford appeared on MSNBC earlier today, and told the US network he will respond "appropriately" to Trump's latest move.

He also urged Trump to "stop the chaos", saying the tariff war is hurting both American and Canadian families. Ford warned that if things escalate he "will not hesitate to shut off electricity completely".

Image source, Getty Images

We've just been hearing from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Here's how she answered reporters' questions on tariffs and Trump's economic agenda:

• Leavitt began by touting manufacturing figures from the Bureau of Labor indicating the sector had added 10,000 jobs in a month
• She played down any suggestion the US could enter a recession, labelling falling stock market figures "a snapshot of a moment in time"
• Leavitt argued the US would become a "manufacturing superpower", without giving a timeline
• She addressed the tariff row with Canada, calling Ontario Premier Doug Ford's threat to cut off electricity exports "egregious and insulting"
• When asked if Canada remained "a close ally", Leavitt said the US neighbour may be "a competitor now"

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is warning that President Trump's latest tariffs have the potential to hurt both Americans and Canadians.

In a statement, the chamber's president Candace Laing called Trump's move "incredibly destructive".

"The stock market volatility is a glaring signal that this economic chaos must end," Laing says, arguing that the US needs Canadian steel and aluminium.

"Without Canadian steel and aluminium, the US won't have enough of either metal to satisfy the needs of its demanding economy," she said, "or build the bright 'golden age' President Trump has promised."

Leavitt is asked if the White House still considers Canada to be "a close ally of the United States".

"I think Canada is a neighbour," Leavitt replies.

"They have always been an ally, perhaps they are becoming a competitor now."

Image source, Getty Images

Canada's next Prime Minister Mark Carney has called Donald Trump's latest tariffs "an attack on Canadian workers, families and businesses".

In a post on social media, Carney says his government will "ensure our response has maximum impact in the US and minimal impact here in Canada".

Canada's next PM adds that the Canadian government will keep tariffs in place until the Trump administration makes "credible, reliable commitments to free and fair trade".

Leavitt says the US president has made it very clear that "Canada would be very wise" not to shut down power to the American people.

This is in response to warnings from Ontario Premier Doug Ford that he might pull the plug on electricity supplies to US states such as New York, Minnesota and Michigan that his province exports to.

In the event that this happens, the spokeswoman says it would be for the president to decide whether to offer relief to affected areas.

Image source, Getty Images

After saying "Canada has been ripping off the US for decades", Leavitt is asked about American economic confidence amid a tumbling stock market.

"What the president envisions for this country is for the United States of America to be a manufacturing superpower where there are American factories and businesses owned by Americans producing goods that we are exporting to the rest of the world," Leavitt says.

"It will increase wages for people here in our great country. It will ensure our national security and it will boost the morale of the American people to have thriving industries," she says.

Earlier, Leavitt echoed Trump's message that current market turbulence is temporary.

Throughout the press conference she has encouraged Americans to ignore the stock market and "bet on the president".

Leavitt is asked about Canada and whether President Trump has spoken to the new Canadian Liberal leader Mark Carney, who was chosen this weekend to succeed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

She responds no, adding that Trump's phone is "always open to leaders who wish to speak with him".

On Trump's decision to hike tariffs further on Canadian steel and aluminium, Leavitt says it was made in retaliation to Ontario adding a surcharge to its electricity exports to the US - a response by Canada's most populous province to Trump's tariff threats against Canada.

Leavitt says it is "egregious and insulting" for Ontario to further threaten to shut down electricity for the American people if the trade war continues.

She adds that the US president has "an obligation and a responsibility to respond accordingly".

Image source, Getty Images

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

The economy is taking up the bulk of questions at this White House briefing.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt has been defending the administration’s "America First" agenda. Leavitt aimed a dig at previous administrations, who she said had "stuck a knife" in the back of the American worker.

Asked about the possibility of a recession, Leavitt carefully navigated the answer. “There’s a lot to unpack there,” she added. “The numbers that we see today, saw yesterday and will see tomorrow are a snapshot of a moment.”

She followed up with criticism of the Biden administration, which she blamed for creating an “economic disaster”.

Leavitt is asked to reassure Americans there won't be a recession, in today's first question from the media.

The spokeswoman says that current stock market numbers are a "snapshot of a moment in time".

The White House press secretary also stresses the US is "in a period of economic transition", and goes on to blame policies introduced by former President Joe Biden.

As a reminder, the S&P 500, which tracks the biggest American companies, fell about 2.7% yesterday - its worst day of the year.

It came a day after Fox News aired an interview with Trump in which he was asked whether the US was facing recession.

He said: "I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we're doing is very big. We're bringing wealth back to America."

Leavitt goes through data from a February jobs report calling it "good news for America".

Leavitt says manufacturing jobs increased by 10,000 in a month, which was led by the automobile sector.

This was led by 9,000 jobs in the car industry, "the most auto jobs added to the economy in 15 months", she says, calling it "a complete turnaround from the Biden administration".

Image source, Getty Images

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt is now addressing the media.

She says President Trump will be speaking to a roundtable of business leaders and CEOs later today, where she says he will "tout his pro-growth economic agenda" and answer questions.

A reminder that you can watch the White House briefing by pressing the 'Watch Live' button at the top of this page.

Image source, Getty Images

While we wait for the White House press briefing to start, let's take in some more reaction to Trump's latest salvo in the trade war.

Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, has called on the Liberal government to "immediately bring in retaliatory tariffs" to respond to Trump's tax hike on Canadian steel and aluminium imports.

"If President Trump is applying 50 percent tariffs on our steel and aluminium, then Canada must hit back with 50 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imported from the United States," Poilievre says.

In a direct message to the US administration, Poilievre adds: "Do not mistake our kindness for weakness, we are a strong, proud and sovereign country and we will fight back against these attacks against our economy and our workers."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is expected to hold a briefing at 13:00 EDT (17:00 GMT).

We'll be streaming it live at the top of this page, so you can follow along.

These briefings tend to start with the White House's agenda for the day. But after that, Leavitt usually takes questions from reporters.

With today's news of Trump's decision to double steel and aluminium tariffs on Canada, we can expect plenty of media interest in that.

Stay tuned.

Tariffs are taxes charged on goods imported from other countries.

The companies that bring the foreign goods into the country pay the tax to the government.

Typically, tariffs are a percentage of a product's value. A 20% tariff on Chinese goods means a product worth $10 (£7.76) has an additional $2 charge.

Firms may choose to pass on some or all of the cost of tariffs to customers.

The US has typically charged lower tariffs on goods than other countries.

Trump's new tariffs - and his promise to introduce further "reciprocal" levies on goods from other countries - could lead to a sharp increase in the prices people pay for goods in the US and around the globe.