As the deadline looms, White House officials have signalled the president may be open to levying smaller tariffs
As the deadline looms, White House officials have signalled the president may be open to levying smaller tariffs
OTTAWA — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods would go into effect on Tuesday because there is “no room left” for a deal with the two countries.
“The tariffs, you know, there are all set. They go into effect tomorrow,” Trump told reporters during a press conference at the White House.
“No room left for Mexico or for Canada.”
Earlier in the day, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNN that he would tell the president that while Canada and Mexico have tightened their borders, the flow of fentanyl remains an issue.
“The president has to say, ‘I appreciate what you have accomplished, but you haven’t accomplished enough and that’s what we’re going to be talking about all day today,” Lutnick told the American TV network.
“I’ll be sitting across the table from the president pointing out that they have done a good job, but they haven’t done enough on fentanyl and he’s got to decide how he wants to play it.”
Canada was bracing for Trump’s decision after being granted a one-month reprieve from the tariffs, which were originally scheduled for Feb. 4. Its political leaders were no exception.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is travelling back from London after meeting with European leaders to discuss the security situation in Ukraine, has vowed to retaliate, should the U.S. make good on its threat of tariffs.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said on Monday that Canada stands ready to retaliate with the package Trudeau announced last month.
“If Trump is imposing tariffs, we’re ready,” she told reporters on Parliament Hill. “We are ready with $155 billion worth of tariffs and we’re ready with the first tranche of tariffs.”
You come at us, we aren’t rolling over
She added both she and Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc have been in touch with their counterparts, and that cabinet was set to meet once Trudeau landed.
When Trump first announced his tariffs in February, Trudeau promised to automatically hit back with 25 per cent tariffs on $30 billion of U.S. goods, including poultry, dairy products, fruits and vegetables such as oranges, as well as nearly all types of alcohol, cigarettes and bottled water.
He also said a second batch of tariffs would be coming on $125 billion worth of U.S. goods, but that Canadian businesses would first be provided time to source alternatives. Those tariffs would cover cars, steel and aluminum.
Speaking to reporters, Ontario Premier Doug Ford repeated his threat to direct the LCBO to pull American alcohol from its shelves and rip up the $100 million deal its signed with Starlink, a satellite company run by Elon Musk, one of Trump’s biggest allies.
He also threatened to shut off electricity that powers parts of the U.S.
“You come at us, we aren’t rolling over,” Ford says.
He called on retailers in his province to help consumers fight back with their purchasing power by clearly stating which products are made-in-Canada, warning he would be prepared to legislate that they do so.
“I’ve never seen patriotism like this in my entire life running wild across the country and we’re just going to keep ramping it up, over and over again.”
Ford also Ontario’s auto-sector could be shut down within a week if the tariffs move ahead.
Back in February, the day before U.S. tariffs were set to begin, Trudeau and Trump both agreed to a 30-day delay, in exchange for Canada announcing additional measures to clamp down on the flow of migrants and fentanyl.
The period of reprieve ends Tuesday. As that deadline loomed, White House officials had originally signalled the president may have be open to levying smaller tariffs, citing the efforts Canada and Mexico made to address his border concerns.
That was before Monday, when Trump appeared before reporters, emphasizing his plan to forge ahead with 25 per cent tariffs on both countries. U.S. stocks tumbled following Trump’s announcement.
Trudeau has consistently pushed back against U.S. assertions about the amount of fentanyl and migrants entering the U.S. from its northern border with Canada. Officials maintain that less one per cent of each making its way into the U.S. originates in Canada.
In securing a 30-day delay, Trudeau promised Trump that Canada would take additional measures to address each, which included appointing a so-called “fentanyl czar” to tackle the illegal spread of fentanyl.
Kevin Brosseau, who served as Trudeau’s former deputy national security and intelligence advisor after spending two decades as an RCMP leader in Manitoba, was appointed to the role last month.
He recently travelled to Washington along with RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme, Public Safety Minister David McGuinty and Immigration Minister Marc Miller to meet with Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, to discuss its efforts at the border, including when it comes to curbing the flow of fentanyl.
Canada also made good on its pledge to list Mexican drug cartels as terrorist entities, which Trudeau had promised Trump.
Miller told National Post last week that while the meeting with Homan went well, there were no guarantees on the table about how tariffs could be avoided.
“A clear set of things that would prevent tariffs from happening is not there,” said Miller.
“We should brace for it and brace for the fact that this could go on for the next four years.”
Miller added the Canadian delegation outlined how it believes some of the amounts the U.S. is citing when it comes to immigration and drugs are inaccurate and being incorrectly attributed to Canada when it, in fact, comes from Mexico.
Industry, union and political leaders all warn that getting hit by 25 per cent universal tariffs from the U.S. would be devastating not only to Canadian jobs and prices in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, but to sectors across the U.S.
“Businesses on both side of the border have already been damaged by the uncertainty coming from President Trump’s drip-drip-drip of tariff threats,” said Matthew Holmes, an executive vice-president and public policy chief at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, in a statement.
“We have no reason to expect this will change any time soon. Whether it’s tomorrow, next week, or in April, there has already been damage to the relationship and to our economies.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Sunday called for Canada to retaliate, saying any revenue it makes through imposing tariffs should be directed to help impacted workers and offer Canadians tax relief.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has demanded Trudeau work with opposition federal parties to prepare a relief package to help workers and businesses who could be hurt by Trump’s trade levies.
Besides the March 4 threat of tariffs, Canada and other allies are also bracing for tariffs on steel and aluminum, which Trump has vowed to impose on March 12. Trump has also vowed to hit countries with “reciprocal tariffs” on April 2.
That month is when a trade study is due, which could open the door to even more tariffs.
– With additional reporting from The Canadian Press and Bloomberg
National Post
staylor@postmedia.com
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