Next week or April? Trump muddies waters on tariff threats against Canada

U.S. President Donald Trump said again Wednesday he plans to hit Canada and Mexico with devastating duties — but a White House official confirmed on background that the tariff plans could change through negotiations.

“I’m not stopping the tariffs,” Trump told reporters as he hosted the first cabinet meeting of his second term at the White House.

Trump’s executive order to implement 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian imports, with a lower 10 per cent levy on energy, was delayed until March 4 after Canada agreed to introduce new security measures at the border.

The president, who initially tied the duties to the flow of deadly fentanyl, said the pause would allow time to reach a “final economic deal.”

The president’s enthusiasm for duties has led to a swelling inventory of tariff threats since he returned to the White House last month — threats that have targeted Canada, among others.

He signed an executive order to implement “reciprocal tariffs” by raising U.S. duties to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports starting April 2. He ordered 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States on March 12.

Trump also floated the idea of imposing tariffs on automobiles and forest products in April. He signed an executive order Tuesday to look at a levy on copper.

Trump himself seems to be having a hard time keeping track of his massive tariff agenda. On Wednesday the president said the duties on Canada and Mexico would be coming April 2 — a statement that was quickly clarified by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

“The fentanyl-related things, they are working hard on the border, at the end of that 30 days they have to prove to the president that they’ve satisfied him to that regard,” Lutnick said, adding that deadline was different from the one on the reciprocal tariffs. “If they have, he will give them a pause — or he won’t.”

Trump said he would be “hard to convince.”

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data shows the number of people and drugs crossing illegally into the United States from Canada is minuscule compared to the volume coming across the southern border.

Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks told U.S. media last week that unlawful crossings at the southern border had dropped more than 90 per cent from the same period last year. There has also been a significant drop in crossings at the northern border.

The White House official said that, as of now, tariffs against Canada would be going ahead Tuesday. That could change, the official added, depending on the outcome of ongoing negotiations.

Federal ministers met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa Wednesday after he held a call with premiers.

Ahead of the cabinet meeting, Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said he didn’t think the tariffs were a “foregone conclusion.” Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said, “one thing we have learned is to take it step by step.”

Ministers and premiers have been cycling through Washington in recent weeks in an attempt to find out what it would take to get Trump to abandon his tariff plans. Many say Canada’s border plan has received positive responses in Washington.

But it remains unclear what Trump wants as the president continues to complain about trade and call for Canada to become a U.S. state. 

Public Safety Minister David McGuinty and newly appointed “fentanyl czar” Kevin Brosseau were the latest to make the diplomatic push in Washington this week.

Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., said Brosseau “is the most popular guy in town” and “everybody wants to talk to him.”

She said if America is asking Canada to take action on issues that matter to both countries — such as fentanyl — it’s important to respond. But it’s now clear those efforts may not stop the tariffs.

“I think we just need to take it one step at a time and recognize that this is a relationship that we are having to manage with a partner that is interested in wielding these economic tools,” Hillman said at a Canada on Capitol Hill event Tuesday.

Trump’s disruption of trading relationships and disregard for long-standing alliances have sent shockwaves across Canada and around the world. The latest political upheaval came Tuesday when Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey resigned, citing the “bonkers” president.

Canada’s New York Consul General Tom Clark said Trump’s tariff agenda is changing the world. At some point, he added, the president will either have to follow through or call it off.

“Trump has to show that he’s not just massively bluffing and I think that moment is approaching,” Clark said in Washington Tuesday.

“Is he bluffing? Is it all smoke and mirrors or is it real? We’ll find out.” 

Many experts say Trump’s actions are intended to shake up Canada and Mexico ahead of a review of the continental trade pact. The Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement was negotiated during the first Trump administration to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. 

Clark said Canada has to seize this moment because the way the country looks in five years will depend on what is done in the next five weeks.

“When you are under threat, when somebody has got a gun to your head and you suddenly in that moment of clarity figure out a few things, then maybe that’s a good thing,” Clark said. “And hopefully there’s not a bullet in the gun.”