The 25% tariff on Canada will take effect from next week—Trump threatens after one month-long break
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he will go forward with a 25 per cent tariff on most Canadian goods next week, saying Canada has ripped off the U.S. for too long and it’s time to put a stop to it.
Speaking to reporters at a White House news conference with the French president, Trump said work to implement those tariffs is “moving along very rapidly.”
“The tariffs are going forward on time, on schedule. This is an abuse that took place for many, many years. The tariffs will go forward, yes, and we’re going to make up a lot of territory,” Trump said.
Earlier this month, Trump threatened to levy a devastating 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods — except energy, which would be levied at 10 per cent — going so far as to draw up an executive order to implement the regime.
Economists and experts have said tariffs that high have the potential to plunge the Canadian economy into a recession and lead to severe economic disruption for industries across the country.
Trump ultimately pulled back after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to deploy more resources at the border to tamp down on drugs and migrants crossing into the U.S.
Now, Trump signalled that the pause will be lifted around March 4 as planned despite meaningful improvement at the border with the number of migrants apprehended and the quantity of drugs seized plummeting.
In response to a reporter’s question at a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, U.S. President Donald Trump said next week’s deadline for imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico is ‘on schedule,’ reiterating his claim that the U.S. has been taken advantage of ‘for many, many years.’
Trump has also threatened additional 25 per cent tariffs for certain industries, including steel, aluminum and auto imports. The White House has previously said those tariffs — the steel and aluminum levies are set to take effect on March 12 — will be stacked on top of the 25 per cent tariff on Canada.
In an interview with CBC News last week, Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., said illegal migration from Canada into the U.S. has declined by some 90 per cent in recent months.
With more money and resources, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officials have been seizing drugs at the border, including fentanyl.
Even before these new efforts, Canada represented less than one per cent of all seized fentanyl imports into the U.S., according to federal data.
