What's Trump's endgame with global tariffs? Canadian officials say they have a clearer idea
U.S. plans tariffs for April 2, and will then adjust for nations that play nice: Ontario representative
After a lengthy meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump's top trade officials on Thursday, Canadian representatives say they have a clearer understanding of the rationale behind Trump's insistence on tariffs — not just on Canada but on the whole world.
"Tariffs are now a global policy of the United States," said David Paterson, Ontario's representative in Washington. "And this is a historic change to global trading patterns, and [the Americans are] very aware of that."
Paterson, along with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Canada's ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman, and federal cabinet ministers, met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer — the point people on Trump's trade agenda.
In an interview on Power & Politics, Paterson told host David Cochrane that the Canadians and Americans had a 90-minute meeting and the first half-hour was "a master class" from Lutnick in breaking down the U.S. position on tariffs.
The focus of the U.S. government is dealing with its yearly deficit in federal spending, Paterson said. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the federal government ran a $1.83 trillion US deficit in the 2024 fiscal year.
There are three things the U.S. government is doing that affect the deficit, Paterson added.
The first is a major budget resolution that calls for trillions of dollars in spending and tax cuts, which is "something that must not increase that deficit further while keeping tax levels and competitiveness low," Paterson said.
The other two are measures to help make the spending and tax cuts happen without growing the deficit, including slashing government spending through Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency and tariffs, which are meant to be a new revenue source and attract investment into the United States.
Paterson said the American plan is to impose tariffs by sector across countries all around the world on April 2. From there, the countries that get along with the U.S. the best will be "first in line" to adjust or mitigate the tariffs.
"This is the policy. This is the way they're going forward," Paterson said. "And I think [Thursday] gave us a lot of clarity."
In an interview on Rosemary Barton Live airing Sunday, Hillman, Canada's ambassador to the U.S., said the Americans walked the Canadians through Trump's trade agenda and gave them a chance to ask questions and explain how Trump's trade disruptions are hurting the Canadian economy.
Hillman described the meeting as "concrete" and appreciated the conversations, but she noted that nothing changed in terms of the ongoing trade war between Canada and the U.S.
The ambassador told host Rosemary Barton that the Americans know Canada will respond to Trump's tariffs on April 2 and that Trump's team is "deeply focused" on that deadline.
"It's the rest of the world that is going to now be brought into their plan. And that is [the Americans'] singular focus," Hillman said. "After that happens, then we'll see what they think the next step might be."
Following the Thursday meeting, Ford told reporters he feels like "the temperature is being lowered, the temperature's coming down" after the bilateral talks.
"This, I can honestly say, was the best meeting I've ever had coming down here. We want the best outcome for both countries. We're like a family — sometimes there's tension between families, but that was an extremely productive meeting. I'm feeling positive," the premier said.
Canada-U.S. tariffs
The federal government announced a plan on Wednesday to slap tariffs on $29.8 billion worth of American goods to hit back against Trump after he imposed punishing tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Dominic LeBlanc, who was serving as finance minister at the time of the announcement, said Canada "will not stand idly by while our iconic steel and aluminum industries are being unfairly targeted."
LeBlanc said the American products being hit with these tariffs include U.S.-made steel and aluminum, computers, sports equipment and certain cast iron products, among others.
Trump's tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, which took effect just after midnight Wednesday, are separate from the other tariffs Trump levied on Canada last week — and later partially dialled back — to supposedly pressure the country to do more at the border on drugs and migrants.
Canada immediately levied tariffs on $30 billion worth of American goods in response to those initial tariffs — and didn't take them off even after Trump rejigged his tariff regime.
All told, Canada is applying a 25 per cent tariff to some $60 billion worth of American goods as payback for both Trump's border- and metals-related tariffs.
The government is also holding back tariffs on another roughly $100 billion worth of American goods that will be imposed if Trump goes ahead with a third round of what he's calling "reciprocal" tariffs on goods from around the world on April 2.
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With files from J.P. Tasker