Trump threatening 35% tariffs on Canadian goods across the board
CBC
U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to slap a 35 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods as the two countries have been engaged in negotiations to reach some sort of trade agreement.
Trump's latest threat came in a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney that the president posted to his social media site, Truth Social, on Thursday evening.
"There will be no tariff if Canada, or companies within your country, decide to manufacture product within the United States," the letter read.
Trump said the tariffs will take effect on Aug. 1, and wrote that he will increase the levies if Canada retaliates.
Trump and Carney have been locked in negotiations to come to some sort of trade resolution by July 21. Carney's office said the prime minister has received the letter and his team is hard at work, later posting on the social platform X that Canada is committed to working with the U.S. on fentanyl concerns and "building Canada strong."
In his letter, Trump again cited fentanyl "pouring" into the U.S. from Canada — even though data continues to show that minimal amounts of the drug are crossing the Canada-U.S. border compared to the U.S.'s southern border.
Trump has been complaining about fentanyl crossing the northern border since he was re-elected in November. After taking office, he imposed tariffs he said are designed to punish Canada for not doing enough to crack down on the fentanyl drug trade.
Now, the president seems to be taking the border-related tariffs a step further by promising a 35 per cent levy. The U.S. is currently imposing a 25 per cent tariff on all non-CUSMA compliant goods coming from Canada and a lower 10 per cent rate on energy and potash as part of a border-related tariffs regime.
Ottawa announced a $1.3-billion investment in border security and named a fentanyl czar to address the concerns coming from the White House.
The U.S. has also hit Canadian steel, aluminum and autos with an import levy, which have been particularly damaging to the Canadian economy, leading to job losses and a drop in exports.
Trump has also been promising to slap a 50 per cent tariff on copper coming into the U.S. According to federal data, Canada exported some $9.3 billion worth of copper and copper-based products in 2023, with a majority of that — 52 per cent — going to the U.S. China and Japan followed, with 17 and 12 per cent of Canadian exports, respectively.
Although he primarily cited fentanyl in his Thursday letter, Trump also listed other irritants, such as Canada's supply management system.
Carney and Trump have been having direct conversations with each other, and the two agreed to try to resolve trade disputes this month when the president was in Alberta for the G7 summit in June.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said just Thursday morning that she was hopeful an agreement could be reached by the July 21 deadline.
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