President Donald Trump has postponed his threat of a 50 percent tariff on a wide range of Canadian goods that was set to take effect at midnight and would have affected roughly US$20 billion (NZ$33b) worth of imports.

Autos, dairy and alcohol are a few sticking points in relations between the two countries, while the two sides failed to clarify whether these will be resolved.

The announcement, which Trump made on his social media platform, buys time for more negotiations and avoids, for now, another strain in already tense relations between the…