Trump pausing tariffs on some Canadian goods until April 2
Senior Canadian official says order will be studied before country reacts
U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he is pausing his tariffs on some Canadian goods until April 2, offering the country yet another reprieve from a punishing 25 per cent levy.
Trump's actions are a welcome development for the country, given just how damaging tariffs that big could be for the economy.
But the events of the last week show what Canada is in for over the next nearly four years: chaos, unpredictability and constantly moving goal posts from a White House that doesn't play by normal trade rules.
Even in announcing this supposed pause, a White House official told some American news outlets in a background briefing that the tariff reprieve would only apply to Canadian exports that are compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
Before this latest trade fracas, some Canadian exporters opted to pay a relatively low U.S. tariff rate (called a "most favoured nation" (MFN) rate in trade parlance) rather than comply with some complicated CUSMA rules-of-origin policies to get entirely duty-free access to the American market.
The Associated Press reported that roughly 62 per cent of imports from Canada would likely still face the 25 per cent tariffs because they're not "USMCA compliant," as the free trade agreement is known in the U.S., according to a White House official who insisted on anonymity to preview the new executive order on a call with reporters.
Canadian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the White House's assertions.
A senior government official told CBC News that Canada will not react to Trump's latest move on tariffs until officials have studied the order he's issued to modify the tariff regime.
Even with Trump's partial climbdown, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Thursday the province will slap a 25 per cent levy on electricity shipped to 1.5 million Americans starting Monday. Ontario supplies electricity to Minnesota, New York and Michigan.
Ford that so long as the president's threat of tariffs continue, Ontario's position would remain the same.
"This whole thing with President Trump is a mess," said Ford. "This reprieve, we went down this road before. He still threatens the tariffs on April 2."
B.C. Premier David Eby meanwhile said his government is pushing ahead with a plan to levy fees on commercial trucks travelling from the U.S. through the province to Alaska
He said Canadians won't let up until tariffs are taken off the table.
"Yet again the president is sowing uncertainty and chaos, attempting to undermining our economy by implementing tariffs and then pulling them," Eby said.
"We are going to ensure that the Americans understand how pissed off we are."
Tariffs on metals still coming
While Canada is getting at least a temporary break from a universal tariff that was supposedly tied to fentanyl and the border, Trump said Thursday he is pressing ahead with a previously announced 25 per cent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports next week. Canada is the leading exporter of both metals to the U.S.
Those more targeted tariffs are still a major concern for Canada, given the last time Trump imposed similar tariffs on those metals there was a huge drop in Canadian exports, threatening jobs and businesses. According to Statistics Canada data, aluminum exports dropped by roughly half in 2019 as a result of Trump's trade action in his first term.
Trump also signalled there is trouble on the horizon for Canada's auto sector, which got a reprieve from Trump's tariffs yesterday.
Trump said there will be no exemptions for Canadian and Mexican autos next month when he goes ahead with what he's calling "reciprocal" tariffs on countries that supposedly rip off the U.S.
New details about Trudeau-Trump call
Speaking to reporters earlier Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday was "colourful" with moments of tension as the two hashed out how to bring the American-led trade war to an end.
The prime minister acknowledged that the 50-minute conversation between the two men on Wednesday was heated, but said it was a "substantive" call and that there could be a resolution to these trade issues, at least in the short term.
But Trudeau said over the longer term, Trump seems committed to tariffs.
"We will continue to be in a trade war that was launched for the U.S. for the foreseeable future," he said.
A senior government official told CBC News that Trump used profanity more than once while discussing dairy products on Wednesday's call, a longtime trade irritant for the U.S. Trudeau did not use profanity, the official said.
Trump also became animated when discussing fentanyl, the official said.
Trudeau stressed that the U.S. government's own border seizure data shows Canada is not much of a problem and that the country is doing all it can to tamp down on the drug, the official said.
The government official said Trump and Vice-President JD Vance, who was also on the call, then pushed back hard on Trudeau's defence, saying seizures is not the right way to measure this problem. Trudeau said there's no other way to actually quantify the problem, the official said.
The official said the Trump call did end in a somewhat friendly manner, as Trump said on social media. The leaders agreed their officials should discuss the possibility of Trump exempting all CUSMA-compliant products from tariffs and what Canada might be willing to offer in return.
In his news conference today, Trudeau said Canada will hold firm and push ahead with retaliatory tariffs and other measures until Trump backs off entirely.
"Our goal is to get all tariffs removed," he said.
Canada has a strong hand to play in these negotiations — the U.S. needs the products the country sells and there's tremendous resolve in Canada to hold firm in the face of Trump's aggression, he said.
"We are in a moment right now where Canada has a very, very strong bargaining position, because Canadians are so united and unequivocal about standing up for our country and standing up for our fellow citizens and being very firm that this is an unjustified and unjustifiable trade war launched by the Americans," he said.
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With files from the CBC's Katie Simpson