Canada locks down on most US tariffs: Canada’s government is keeping in place its 25% retaliatory tariffs on US goods — with 70% of the counter-tariffs implemented in March still in place, Bloomberg reports, quoting Canada’s Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne as saying. The minister indicated the government “temporarily and publicly paused tariffs” on select goods for health and public safety reasons.

This was Champagne’s pushback on Oxford Economics’ recent report, which claimed that Canada has suspended almost all of its retaliatory tariffs on US products, making their tariff-rate increase “nearly zero" in an attempt to bolster its economy, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing Oxford Economics calculations.

Catching a break…almost: It was alleged that a six-month exemption period would be implemented on retaliatory tariffs for products used in Canadian manufacturing as well as processing and F&B packaging, and public safety, national security, and healthcare-related items. Automakers, such as General Motors, or manufacturing companies in Canada were also said to be exempt from the tariffs.

China has issued a 90-day pause of its export restrictions on dual-use goods — items used for both civil and military purposes — that it previously imposed on 28 US firms, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing a Chinese Commerce Ministry statement. The move is yet another sign of trade war de-escalation between Beijing and Washington that saw the pair agree to slash their bilateral tariffs for 90 days earlier this month.

Uncertainty on rare earths inclusion? While the notice didn’t list specific items, earlier filings on 4 April and 9 April named seven rare earth elements as controlled dual-use goods. The pause gives US firms temporary relief, but it’s unclear if curbs will return after the 90-day window.

The background: The world’s second-largest economy had announced export controls on rare earth minerals in February, citing national security concerns. The restrictions were part of a wider retaliatory package from Beijing that also imposed a 15% duty on US coal and LNG and a 10% duty on oil, farm equipment, and some vehicles.

DATA POINT- The US’ current 30% rate is set to cripple Chinese exports: Washington’s 30%tariff on inbound Chinese imports — predicted to last throughout until late this year — is set to effectively slash 70% of China’s medium-term exports to the US, according to a survey of 22 Asian, European, and US fund managers conducted by Bloomberg on Friday. Respondents generally believe that the US is unlikely to bring its tariffs on Beijing to less than 30%, with six predicting a hike and seven predicting a further cut below the 30% rate.

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