OTTAWA, March 12 (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada released the following text of opening remarks by Governor Tiff Macklem on Wednesday:

Amid Canada’s trade war with the U.S., the Bank of Canada announced another rate cut. The Bank of Canada announced it reduced the target for the overnight rate to 2.75 per cent. This follows the January rate cut to three per cent.

The Bank of Canada cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point and called the trade battle with the US a “new crisis,” but pushed back on expectations that policymakers were on a predetermined cutting path.