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Canada is bracing for a fresh round of U.S. tariffs as a trade war launched by President Donald Trump continues to dominate the federal election campaign.
Trump has pledged to unveil on Wednesday so-called “reciprocal” tariffs on multiple countries on what he has dubbed as “Liberation Day.”It’s not yet clear what the specifics are of his new trade policy and whether Canada will be included, or what the levels of tariffs could be.“The president will be addressing the decades of unfair trade practices that have ripped our country off and American workers off,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday in previewing Trump’s announcement, while declining to offer any further details.Wednesday also marks the deadline for Trump’s temporary exemption of auto parts and other goods traded under North American free trade rules from sweeping 25 per cent tariffs. Those were imposed on March 4 in what Trump has billed as a push to get Canada and Mexico to take action on fentanyl trafficking. He has also said he wants to use “economic force” to force Canada to become the 51st state.Leavitt would not say if Trump is considering an extension of that pause, only telling reporters to tune into Wednesday’s tariff announcement.Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is running as the Liberal Party leader, pressed pause on his election campaign for a second time in less than a week.
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He is expected to hold meetings in Ottawa Wednesday ahead of Trump’s announcement at 4 p.m. Eastern.Carney spoke to Trump for the first time last week and he vowed to respond to the new trade actions with counter-tariffs. Speaking at a campaign stop in Winnipeg Tuesday, Carney said Ottawa will be “very deliberate” in its response to fight against the “unjustified measures” by the U.S. administration, while also making sure there is “minimal impact” on Canada.“There are measures that we can take that at a minimum, level the playing field with the United States and again it depends on the broader measures they take tomorrow, if indeed, they do against Canada,” Carney said.The U.S. has so far imposed 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods, as well as an additional 25 per cent on steel and aluminum imports and a 10 per cent levy on Canadian energy imports.
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Canada has already responded to Trump’s trade actions with counter-tariffs on almost $60 billion worth of American goods, which were announced in retaliation for the 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods and a subsequent round that was retaliation for the steel and aluminum tariffs.After Trump announced his one-month suspension of the March 4 tariffs, Ottawa paused a larger, $125-billion round of retaliatory levies until Wednesday to allow for negotiations with the Trump administration.The trade war has become a key campaign focus for all the main federal parties in the general election. Canadians are set to go to the polls on April 28.Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said the country needs to stand up to Trump and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has urged support for workers who will be impacted by the tariffs. Delivering a keynote address in Toronto Wednesday, Poilievre said Canada’s immediate response to the new tariffs should include ”targeted reciprocal tariffs” that “maximize impact on the Americans while minimizing impact on ourselves.”Poilievre said Canada should prioritize protecting Canadian jobs and in the long-term “build our economic fortress in Canada so we are never vulnerable to these kinds of threats again.”Poilievre said Canada should also work to end the trade dispute after the election, pledging to work towards renegotiating the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.“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.”— With files from Global News’ Sean Boynton
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