Trump won’t impose tariffs on Canada, other countries right away: reports

January 20, 2025 Canuck

U.S. president-elect Donald Trump will not impose his promised tariffs on Canada, Mexico or China on his first day in office, according to multiple U.S. reports, giving this country something of a reprieve, at least for now.

Trump, who will be sworn in as president around noon on Monday, has been reviewing three options: a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods, a 10 per cent tariff on goods from all countries or an escalating tariff that starts low and rises over time, according to Canadian officials.

A Trump administration official confirmed to Reuters that Trump will hold off for now and instead direct agencies in a memo to “investigate and remedy persistent trade deficits and address unfair trade and currency policies by other nations.”

The memo will single out China, Canada and Mexico for scrutiny but will not announce new tariffs, the official said.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report Trump will stop short of imposing new tariffs on his first day in office, as Canada and other countries potentially caught in the crosshairs had feared.

Canada is prepared to impose retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. if Trump eventually moves ahead with any trade action. Officials have already drawn up a plan that will levy immediate tariffs on $37 billion worth of American goods if Trump takes action against Canada.

“It’s not something that we want to do but we will do it in response, of course, if the Americans decide to do it,” Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in an interview with CBC’s Rosemary Barton Live on Sunday.

Two senior government officials told Radio-Canada that it’s “good news” Canada will be spared tariffs today. But the sources stressed that the government remains very cautious due to the uncertainty of what could come in the days to follow, the sources said.

A team in the Prime Minister’s Office will be poring over Trump’s executive orders to see what, if any, effect they will have on Canada, the sources said.

While Trump could reverse course and impose the threatened tariffs at any time, the decision to initially focus on other priorities — like cracking down on migrants and clearing the way for more oil and gas drilling — is still something of a victory for Canada because he had promised trade action on day one.

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” Trump said in a November social media post.

In one of his last campaign stump speeches before election day, Trump pitched punishing tariffs as a way to force Canada and Mexico to act on drugs and migrants coming into the U.S.

“We’re going to give them a little period of time but we don’t want drugs coming across our border or any border, whether it’s Mexico or Canada or wherever because they’re starting now in Canada, they’re starting to go up north,” he told the crowd in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“We’re gonna explain to them quickly that if you allow fentanyl and these drugs to come through your country — we’re going to charge you large-scale tariffs on everything you send to the U.S.”

Since Trump made those comments, Ottawa has shown a willingness to engage with Trump on the issue, announcing a billion-dollar border package that will result in more personnel and technology to better police the 49th parallel.

Canada also has the data on its side. Figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show the agency seized just 19.5 kilograms of fentanyl at the northern border last year compared to a whopping 9,570 kilograms at the southwestern one.

As for illegal migrants, there’s a huge disparity between Canada and Mexico.

While leaving tariffs for another day, Trump is, however, expected to issue an executive order Monday directing agencies to assess the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) he signed with Ottawa and Mexico City in his first term, according to a report in the New York Times.

Trump has long griped about Canada’s system of supply management for certain farm sectors like dairy, eggs and poultry — a system he tried and failed to kill when negotiating the first iteration of CUSMA. That trilateral trade agreement is up for review in 2026 and supply management could be a flashpoint in those talks.

A separate executive order signals Trump hasn’t dropped his affinity for tariffs — he will order the federal government to assess the feasibility of creating an “external revenue service” that could be charged with collecting tariffs and duties in the future.

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