The Bank of Canada has cut its overnight lending rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 per cent, it announced on Wednesday. In a note explaining the decision, the bank said the economy started the year strong, with solid GDP growth and inflation within its two per cent target. But tariff uncertainty caused by the on-again, off-again trade war between Canada and the U.S. has weighed on business spending and hiring, and shaken consumer confidence, the decision said. It’s “against this backdrop” that the central bank decided to cut the rate by a quarter point, Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem wrote in his remarks. …Macklem has noted in the past that the bank cannot shield the Canadian economy from the financial impact of tariffs, but that it can instead use interest rates to manage a potential surge in inflation.