Trump confirms he will impose 25% tariff on Canadian goods Tuesday
U.S. President Donald Trump says his long-threatened trade war is going ahead with tariffs on Canadian goods set to take effect just after midnight and there’s nothing Canada can do to stop them.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said the United States has been “a laughingstock for years and years” and he needs to take trade action against its continental neighbours.
He said Canada has allowed fentanyl to flood into the U.S. despite data that shows the claim is false.
“Very importantly, tomorrow, tariffs, 25 per cent on Canada and 25 per cent on Mexico, and that will start. So, they’re gonna have to have a tariff,” Trump said.
Asked if there’s anything Canada can do to try and hold off the tariffs, Trump said: “No room left for Mexico or Canada. They’re all set, they go into effect tomorrow.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada has a package of retaliatory measures ready to hit back at Trump right away.
“We are ready with $155 billion worth of tariffs and we are ready with the first tranche of tariffs, which is $30 billion, which has already been announced,” Joly said, referring to countermeasures that were first released when Trump floated his tariff threat last month.
Joly said she will be meeting with her cabinet colleagues this evening to discuss the country’s next steps as it stares down the possibility of economic ruin.
“We know this is an existential threat to us. There are thousands of jobs in Canada at stake. Now, we’ve done the work, we are ready, should the U.S. decide to launch their trade war,” Joly said.
Economists have said a tariff that large could plunge the economy into a recession.
In a speech late last month, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem warned “the economic consequences of a protracted trade conflict would be severe.”
“In the pandemic, we had a steep recession followed by a rapid recovery as the economy reopened. This time, if tariffs are long-lasting and broad-based, there won’t be a bounce-back,” he said. “It’s more than a shock — it’s a structural change.”
The tariff will make some Canadian goods less competitive because American importers will have to pay the 25 per cent levy to bring them into the U.S.
Those added costs could then be passed on to American consumers, pushing up the price of everything from car parts and fertilizer to pharmaceuticals and paper products.
Below is an earlier version of this story.
Canada is preparing for U.S. President Donald Trump to hit the country with potentially devastating tariffs on Tuesday, but the federal government and the premiers say they are in the dark about what will actually materialize and how high those promised levies will be.
Even Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the U.S. tariff czar, said Monday he doesn’t know what exactly will transpire tomorrow, saying it’s Trump who will make the final call.
“He’s going to decide today. We’re going to put it out tomorrow,” Lutnick said in an interview with CNN.
The president has said he wants to punish Canada for a supposedly lax approach to drugs and migrants even though data shows a border crackdown is already producing results.
“He knows they’ve done a good job on the border. They haven’t done enough on fentanyl. Let’s see how the president weighs that today,” Lutnick said.
But the commerce secretary said there’s no doubt some sort of trade action will come about tomorrow.
“We’re going to put out those tariffs,” he said.
There is, however, a chance the tariffs won’t be a high as 25 per cent, as Trump originally promised, Lutnick said in a Sunday interview with Fox News.
“It’s a fluid situation. There are going to be tariffs on Tuesday on Mexico and Canada — exactly what they are I’m going to leave that for the president and his team to negotiate,” Lutnick said.
If Trump doesn’t announce a decision at some point today, there’s a chance Trump’s 25 per cent levy on virtually all Canadian goods (with a 10 per cent tariff on energy) could automatically take effect just after midnight.
After Trump agreed to back down on tariffs for a month, he issued an executive order that said the tariffs “shall be paused and will not take effect until March 4, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time.”
While U.S. President Donald Trump is adamant that tariffs will hit Canada, Mexico and China on Tuesday, his commerce secretary repeatedly hinted on U.S. media that Canada may not get hit full force with 25 per cent tariffs after all.
Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand said the government is waiting like the rest of the country to see what happens.
“We see numerous dates on different goods coming from the White House,” she said in an interview with CBC’s Rosemary Barton Live on Sunday.
Whatever the outcome, “we will meet any Trump tariffs dollar for dollar and we will retaliate to the tune of about $155 billion in aggregate. We are prepared for any eventuality,” Anand said.
That dollar figure is a reference to Canada’s plan the last time Trump threatened tariffs.
Counter-tariffs expected
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who just won a landslide majority government last week on an election promise to take on Trump and his tariffs, said the premiers are waiting to see what happens over the next 24 hours.
“We don’t know what’s coming tomorrow. I’m not even sure President Trump knows what’s coming tomorrow. We have to be prepared for anything and everything,” he told reporters at a mining conference in Toronto.
“We need to match President Trump tariff by tariff, dollar by dollar,” he said, vowing to support the federal government if and when it hits back at the U.S. for what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called “unjustified” tariffs.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford outlined his plan to ‘win this tariff war’ if Donald Trump makes good on his threat to impost a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian exports, saying he’s willing to act on a range of issues — including, if needed, cutting off energy exports from Ontario ‘with a smile on my face.’
Speaking to reporters in London after a bilateral meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the sidelines of a conference on Ukraine’s future, Trudeau said Canada “will have a strong, unequivocal and proportional response, as Canadians expect.”
The confusion over what’s coming stems from Trump’s sometimes chaotic trade agenda. Some tariffs are earmarked to cajole countries to take action on certain issues, like drugs and migrants, while others, including ones promised for March 12, are designed to torpedo the Canadian steel and aluminum industries to bring production back to the U.S.
Trump has also asked the Commerce Department to do a total review of the country’s trading relationships and report back by April 1 — a study that could prompt another layer of tariffs on countries that Trump perceives as ripping off the U.S.
Canada has been racing to show the Americans that it takes Trump’s border-related concerns seriously.
The federal government’s efforts have produced results with the number of intercepted illegal migrants dropping by some 90 per cent in the last few months alone.
Despite Trump’s and Lutnick’s claims, data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released earlier this month shows there has also been a significant decrease in seizures of fentanyl coming from Canada.
The CBP’s own data registered a 97 per cent drop in January compared to December 2024 at the northern border — evidence, the Canadian government says, that its $1.3-billion border security package is already bearing fruit.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) reported on Thursday that it and its law enforcement partners have made significant seizures at the border as part of “Operation Blizzard,” pulling in fentanyl and fentanyl pills, including busting two U.S. citizens at the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel earlier this month who were carrying enough of the deadly drug to kill an estimated 10,000 people.
While Trump weighs what to do, some prominent American voices are speaking out against the president’s trade action, including legendary investor Warren Buffett.
Buffett, who at 94 still runs conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, said it’s American consumers who will ultimately pay the price of Trump’s tariffs.
“We’ve had a lot of experience with [tariffs]. They’re an act of war, to some degree,” he said in an interview with CBS News over the weekend.
“Over time, they’re a tax on goods. I mean, the tooth fairy doesn’t pay ’em,” Buffett said. “And then what? You always have to ask that question in economics. You always say, ‘And then what?'”
View original article here Source
NY Threads Men's Athletic Shorts with Pockets, Basketball, Running and Gym Shorts, Lightweight and Quick Dry…
$13.99 (as of March 2, 2025 19:06 GMT -06:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Onyx Storm (The Empyrean Book 3)
$16.99 (as of March 2, 2025 19:06 GMT -06:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Little Corner: Coloring Book for Adults and Teens, Super Cute…
$11.33 (as of March 2, 2025 19:06 GMT -06:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Timberland PRO Mens Gritman Flex Athletic Fit Double Front Utility Work PantUtility Work Pant
$59.99 (as of March 2, 2025 19:06 GMT -06:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
BAGAIL 8 Set Packing Cubes Luggage Packing Organizers for Travel Accessories
$33.99 (as of March 2, 2025 19:06 GMT -06:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Bluey 18" Stuffed Animal - Playtime & Naptime Companion | Jumbo Size, Soft Deluxe Materials - Huggable Cuddles…
$15.00 (as of March 2, 2025 19:06 GMT -06:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
The Silent Patient
$2.99 (as of March 2, 2025 19:06 GMT -06:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
grace & stella Under Eye Patches - Valentines Day Gifts for Her (12 Pairs) Birthday Gifts for Women - Eye Patches for…
$19.95 (as of March 2, 2025 19:06 GMT -06:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Energizer 2032 Batteries, Lithium CR2032 Watch Battery, 4 Count
$6.94 (as of March 2, 2025 19:06 GMT -06:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)