U.S. President Donald Trump said there is \u201cnothing\u201d Canada can do to prevent the punishing tariffs expected to be unleashed tomorrow<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a press conference in the Oval Office Friday afternoon, Trump was asked if there\u2019s \u201canything\u201d Canada, China or Mexico could do to forestall the tariffs. The president left little up for interpretation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, nothing. Not right now. No.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was later asked if he was looking for a \u201cconcession\u201d from the three countries. Trump responded that he was not. \u201cWe\u2019ll just see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to Trump\u2019s comments, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt repeated the president\u2019s reasons for the tariffs, saying \u201cmassive amounts of fentanyl\u201d are crossing into the U.S. from Canada<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe president will be implementing tomorrow a 25 per cent tariff on Mexico, 25 per cent tariffs on Canada, and a 10 per cent tariff on China for the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans,\u201d she said<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump also reiterated his view that a \u201c$200 billion\u201d USD trade deficit between Canada and the U.S. is a reason for implementing tariffs<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c(Canada has) treated us very unfairly, and I say why should we be subsidizing Canada?\u201d Trump said<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2024, the U.S. deficit with Canada was estimated to be around $45 billion, according to TD Economics. In a report published online, TD<\/a> noted that it\u2019s unclear where Trump got the $200 billion figure, which \u201cis roughly four to five times the officially reported statistics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump\u2019s comments Friday is the latest moving target as for when tariffs could be imposed<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump initially threatened in late November to impose across-the-board 25 per cent tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico on \u201cday one\u201d of his second term<\/p>\n\n\n\n That didn\u2019t happen. Instead, he signed an executive order initiating a study on broader trade practices, to be completed by April 1, and then later throwing out Feb. 1 as the implementation date for border-related tariffs<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking to reporters late Friday from Washington, D.C., Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says the federal government has yet to see \u201cany form of pure decision making\u201d or \u201cany form of specific details coming from the White House regarding (Trump\u2019s) comments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his press conference, Trump provided more details on the timing of tariffs on oil and gas, saying he is targeting Feb. 18<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump also said he\u2019ll \u201cprobably\u201d bring tariffs on oil down to 10 per cent<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m probably going to reduce the tariff a little bit on (oil). We think we\u2019re going to bring it down to 10 per cent on the oil. So it\u2019s 25 per cent when on the Canadian side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The United States is the primary destination for Canadian crude oil, climbing to a record 4.3 million barrels per day, according to October 2024 figures from the U.S. Energy Information Agency<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who has been advocating for oil and gas to be exempted from any potential tariffs, is awaiting further details<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Premier has been clear from the start that any tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Canadian goods will hurt American and Canadian consumers, workers and businesses. That view has not changed,\u201d Smith\u2019s press secretary Sam Blackett said in a statement on Friday<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump also said he\u2019s planning to implement tariffs on steel and aluminum but did not provide specifics on which of the three countries will bear the brunt, or when<\/p>\n\n\n\n Canada\u2019s politicians have spent several weeks trying to coordinate a potential retaliation plan<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking earlier on Friday in response to Trump\u2019s Thursday assertion that he was ready to hit Canada with tariffs tomorrow, Trudeau said Canada \u201cwon\u2019t relent until tariffs are removed,\u201d but conceded the country could be in for hard times<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI won\u2019t sugar-coat it. Our nation could be facing difficult times in the coming days and weeks,\u201d Trudeau said Friday ahead of a meeting with his Canada-U.S. relations council in Toront<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know Canadians might be anxious and worried. I want them to know the federal government, and indeed, all orders of government have their backs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amid the conflicting messages in recent days from Trump and his pick for commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, Trudeau said while Canada still does not know precisely what could be coming, \u201cwe\u2019re ready with \u2026 a purposeful, forceful but reasonable, immediate response.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump\u2019s press secretary had harsh words for Trudeau\u2019s vow to retaliate<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think Justin Trudeau would be wise to talk to President Trump directly before pushing outlandish comments like that to the media,\u201d Leavitt said<\/p>\n\n\n\n The federal government has a three-round retaliation planned, which would start by singling out a small list of American-made consumer products such as Kentucky bourbon and Florida orange juice<\/p>\n\n\n\n This targeting would be followed by tariffs on a longer list of U.S. goods worth $37 billion and then, if needed, Canada would hit an additional $110 billion in manufacturing and other products with trade action<\/p>\n\n\n\n Federal cabinet ministers continued their outreach efforts in Washington on Friday, which included a meeting with Trump\u2019s border czar Tom Homan<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite new measures by the federal government to fortify the border with a $1.3 billion plan, Trump has repeated his concerns about Canada\u2019s border with the U.S<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked by reporters on Friday whether Canada\u2019s border plan \u201cwas in vain,\u201d Public Safety Minister David McGuinty said progress at the border is being made<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve made huge improvements on different fronts, including dealing with migration, dealing with the fentanyl problem. We continue to make progress, and we\u2019re very encouraged,\u201d McGuinty said<\/p>\n\n\n\n Immigration Minister Marc Miller, meanwhile, says he does not believe the tariff threat is about the border<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe facts, I believe, do set you free, and the facts that we exposed (to) the Americans today, I think are important in the discussions that Mr. Trump will be briefed on,\u201d Miller said<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), nearly 24,000 encounters with migrants were recorded between posts on the Canada-U.S. border between October 2023 and September 2024, which is a significant surge compared to 916 encounters during that same period in 2021. That number though is well below the 1.5 million that entered the U.S. from Mexico between October 2023 and September 20<\/p>\n\n\n\n CBP has also told CTV News that expanded enforcement efforts to respond to \u201cchanging migration trends\u201d has reduced encounters at the northern border between official ports of entry by more than 80 per cent from June to November of last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And when it comes to fentanyl, the CBP says only 43 lbs of the drug has been seized at the Canada-U.S. border in the past year compared to 21,148 lbs at its southern border with Mexico<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked if the federal government has any indication of when Trump will make his final decision on tariffs, Joly said, \u201cI\u2019m not in the headspace of President Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think that the reaction towards our border plan, or the reaction regarding just the fact that there is a trade surplus when it comes to goods between Canada and U.S., if you don\u2019t take into account the question of energy \u2026 people are reacting extremely positively,\u201d Joly said<\/p>\n\n\n\nTrump to \u2018probably\u2019 hit Canadian oil with 10 per cent tariff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Trudeau: Canada \u2018won\u2019t relent\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
?Canada\u2019s border plan pitch falling short<\/h2>\n\n\n\n