Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly and Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc leave a media availability during a Liberal cabinet retreat in Montebello, Quebec, Jan. 20, 2025.Blair Gable/Reuters
Update: See Trump says 25% tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico could come Feb. 1
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government said it’s relieved that Donald Trump held off imposing tariffs against Canada and is happy to work with Washington on its reported plans to instead launch an investigation into alleged unfair trade practices by the Canadian government.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Ottawa received no advanced notice of Mr. Trump’s plan, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, to delay threatened tariffs on Canada and instead issue a memo directing federal agencies to investigate trade deficits with countries including Canada. The newspaper said these studies would also look at the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which is up for renewal in 2026.
She said, however, that Ottawa had received word this past weekend that the incoming Trump team was pleased to see Canada deploying Black Hawk helicopters close to the border. Back in November, after he won the election, Mr. Trump had vowed to immediately impose 25-per-cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico unless they took action to stop illegal migration and drug smuggling entering the United States from their territories.
“If the administration wants to study the economic and trade relationship between Canada and the United States, we think that’s a positive opportunity for us to continue to tell the Americans and obviously Canadians as well, the importance of working together and how both countries are stronger and more secure when we respect and honor a comprehensive free-trade agreement,” Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters Monday before heading into a federal cabinet retreat in Montebello, Que.
After Mr. Trump’s November tariff threat, Canada announced $1.3-billion over six years in new funding for measures to secure the Canadian border with the United States, including drones and helicopters. Canada announced the deployment of Black Hawk helicopters late last week and Ms. Joly said in a weekend conversation that Mr. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, indicated his approval.
“Over the weekend, when we were engaging with the border czar Tom Holman, he was giving us good feedback, because the first Black Hawk helicopters were at the border,” she said.
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson called the absence of tariffs on Canada “good news.”
In recent months, Mr. Trudeau’s government had sent numerous ministers including Mr. Wilkinson to meet with members of the incoming Trump team and argue against tariffs.
Mr. Wilkinson said the work is not over. “There’s a lot more that we can do. So I think today was actually a step forward, and now we need to go back and continue to have conversations about how we work together more effectively,” he said.
~More to come