Reports that President-elect Donald Trump's team are thinking of more targeted tariffs boosted stocks in Europe and US futures on Monday.
A Washington Post report revealed that Trump's aides are "exploring tariff plans that would be applied to every country but only cover critical imports".
The news, cited by three sources, would represent a notable shift from the plans mooted by the returning president in his election campaign.
On the stump, Trump had called for "universal" tariffs of 10% or 20% on all goods imported into the US, which economists and other Republican politicians have warned could rock the global economy and lead to more inflation.
With the inauguration set to take place on 20 January, the President Elect's team are still working on the plans.
Under the latest draft of the proposals, rather than slapping tariffs on all imports, the charges would only target "certain sectors deemed critical to national or economic security", the Post's sources said.
Earlier on Monday, reports from Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was ready to resign later in the day, in what newspapers claimed was "the first victim of Trump's tariffs".
Trudeau's Liberal party is holding a caucus later in the week and may choose a new PM.
His finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland resigned last month, lashing out at what she saw as the party's insufficient economic proposals in the face of the prospect of 25% tariffs from Trump.