TORONTO, March 12 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar edged up against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday as the Bank of Canada cut interest rates as expected but stopped short of signaling additional easing, and after Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on the United States.
The loonie was trading 0.2% higher at 1.44 per U.S. dollar, or 69.44 U.S. cents, after trading in a range of 1.4371 to 1.4484.
The Bank of Canada trimmed its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.75% and warned of "a new crisis" as it tried to prepare the country's economy for the damage that President Donald Trump's tariffs could wreak.
Still, the central bank said it would "proceed carefully with any further changes" to rates given the need to assess both the upward pressures on inflation from higher costs and the downward pressures from weaker demand.
"It was a pretty balanced statement from the Bank of Canada," said Bipan Rai, head of ETF and structured solutions strategy at BMO Global Asset Management.
"It's a more deliberate approach that doesn't really tell us anything new in terms of directionality for the Canadian dollar in the short term."
Investors see chances of another rate cut in April at less than 50%.
Trump's increased tariffs on all U.S. steel and aluminum imports took effect on Wednesday, stepping up a campaign to reorder global trade in favor of the U.S. and drawing swift retaliation from Canada and Europe.
Canada, the biggest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the United States, announced 25% retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods worth C$29.8 billion in total.
The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, rose for a second-straight day, advancing 2.2% to $67.70 a barrel.
Canadian bond yields moved higher across the curve. The 10-year was up 2.2 basis points at 3.030%.
Reporting by Fergal Smith Editing by Alexandra Hudson
