Canada and Mexico were excluded from the countries facing new tariffs ranging from 10 per cent to 49 per cent
Canada and Mexico were excluded from the countries facing new tariffs ranging from 10 per cent to 49 per cent
Canada and Mexico were excluded from the countries facing new tariffs ranging from 10 per cent to 49 per cent
OTTAWA — After weeks of anticipation, Canada was spared from additional U.S. tariffs on Wednesday as President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new border levies of at least 10 per cent on American imports.
Speaking in the White House rose garden, Trump announced he was implementing country-specific tariffs ranging from 10 per cent to 49 per cent in response to what he said were unfair monetary and non-monetary tariffs against U.S. goods.
But Canada and Mexico were excluded from the newly tariffed countries published by the White House. It is certainly a welcome reprieve for Canadian businesses and consumers who feared further escalation of the ongoing trade war.
The Trump administration has already hit Canadian goods with tariffs twice this year. In early March, the U.S. imposed 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods coming into the country — except for energy and potash, subject to 10 per cent tariffs — but offered a reprieve for all exports that are “compliant” with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico (CUSMA) free trade deal.
“USMCA compliant goods will continue to see a 0% tariff, non-USMCA compliant goods will see a 25% tariff, and non-USMCA compliant energy and potash will see a 10% tariff,” read a fact sheet published by the White House.
The last week, Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on all auto imports, though that also included a carve-out for vehicles and parts covered by CUSMA. Trump also confirmed his administration would begin collecting those tariffs at 12:01 am Thursday.
During an hour-long speech, Trump accused virtually all of the U.S.’s trading partners of taking advantage of the country for decades.
“For decades the United States slashed our trade barriers or other countries, while those nations placed massive tariffs on our products and created outrageous non monetary barriers to decimate our industries. And in many cases, the non monetary barriers were worse than the monetary ones,” Trump said.
Trump once again singled out Canada’s supply management system for dairy and the fact that U.S. exports after a certain threshold are charged a 250 per cent tariff. The Canadian government said recently no American dairy imports have been dinged by that amount.
“We don’t like it, and it’s not fair. It’s not fair to our farmers. It’s not fair to our country,” he said.
He also acknowledged that his plan would be criticized but argued that history would prove him correct.
Wednesday, Liberal Leader Mark Carney has put on his prime minister’s hat as the country braced for U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest round of tariffs.
The Liberal campaign was originally supposed to head to Montreal Tuesday evening and spend the day in the area Wednesday. But Carney instead went back to Ottawa for a day packed with meetings to prepare Canada’s retaliation.
Carney chaired a virtual meeting of the Prime Minister’s Council on Canada-U.S. Relations at 3 p.m. ET. He was expected to meet with his cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. Relations and National Security after Trump’s announcement.
Canadian officials did not get a heads up about the details of the tariff package, and thus don’t yet know precisely what they’ll be reacting to, said a source.
Carney is expected to respond to Trump’s announcement on Wednesday. He will then switch to his campaign hat and go back on the road.
During a campaign stop in Winnipeg Tuesday, Carney confirmed that Canada would retaliate to any additional U.S. tariffs, but promised that the response would not disadvantage Canadian industry and workers relative to the Americans.
“We are going to be very deliberate in terms of the measures we take to fight for Canada … but also to protect (and) to have that minimal impact in Canada,” he said.
Carney spoke to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on the eve of Trump’s announcement about increasing trade between both countries amid “challenging times ahead” with the Americans, according a readout from the Prime Minister’s Office.
In the meantime, Canadian officials were doing interviews south of the border to warn against the effects of the new wave of U.S. tariffs.
“President Trump calls it ‘Liberation Day.’ I call it ‘Termination Day’ because a lot of people are going to be terminated from their jobs,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford told CNN earlier this week.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly was asked by the same broadcaster if Canada and the U.S. are in a trade war. “Of course we are,” she replied.
The new U.S. levies are framed as a response to match trade barriers put in place by other countries.
Trump has characterized various Canadian non-tariff protections such as the dairy supply management system, the digital service tax, Quebec’s newest language laws and even the federal goods and services tax (GST) as indirect tariffs on U.S. exports.
They are also likely to include the additional 25 per cent border levy against most foreign-made autos and components announced by Trump last week.
Vehicles imported under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) free trade deal will only be tariffed on the value of components built outside the U.S., according to details released by the White House last week.
Trump has also promised to target imports of pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and softwood lumber.
The latter would be blow to another major Canadian export to the U.S.
The new tariffs are in addition to the 25 per cent border levy the U.S. imposed on steel and aluminum imports in early March, which remain in place.
If his party forms government later this month, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has vowed to put in place a Keeping Canadians Working Fund, a “targeted temporary loan program” for businesses directly hit by the tariffs so they can keep their workers on payroll.
He said the program would be similar to the one Stephen Harper’s former government put in place during the 2008 global recession.
Poilievre also said he would be willing to accelerate the renegotiation of CUSMA.
“CUSMA must be renegotiated anyway next year. Why wait? Why not get it done now? Why not end the uncertainty that is paralyzing both sides of the border and that is also costing us jobs today?” he said during a keynote address in Toronto.
“We should set a firm date to finalize a new deal, and I will propose that both countries pause tariffs while we hammer out that deal,” he said.
At a campaign event in Winnipeg, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said his party would ensure that Employment Insurance (EI) benefits are generous enough to cover laid-off workers’ salaries.
“We’ve got your back. That’s my commitment to you,” he said.
National Post
calevesque@postmedia.com
cnardi@postmedia.com
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