U.S. President Donald Trump said from the White House on Monday that tariffs on Mexico and Canada are going ahead next week.ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump said he intends to move ahead with punishing tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports in the coming days despite efforts to persuade the administration to back off on trade measures that would hurt the integrated North American economy.
At a White House news conference Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron, Mr. Trump showed no sign he is withdrawing his threat to impose 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods in early March.
“We are on time with the tariffs and it seems like that is moving along very rapidly,” Mr. Trump said when asked whether he was going to impose the tariffs next week.
“We have been treated very badly and it is not just Canada and Mexico. We have been taken advantage of.”
Mr. Trump said the “tariffs are going forward on time and on schedule.”
The remarks were the latest in a series of economic pronouncements by Mr. Trump that have rattled leaders in Canada and other countries. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has threatened to respond with dollar-for-dollar retaliation if the United States does hit Canada with hefty tariffs.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, speaking to reporters in London, England, said Canada will “absolutely fight back” against the Americans.
She noted that Mr. Trump had three executive orders that would invoke tariffs to reshape America’s trade policy with the world. He has threatened to impose tariffs of 25 per cent on almost all goods from Canada and Mexico and 10 per cent on Canadian energy resources on March 4. He linked the levies to Canada and Mexico’s ability to stop the flow of fentanyl and illegal migrants into the U.S.
A second executive order would take effect on March 12 and would impose 25-per-cent tariffs on aluminum and steel from all countries, including Canada. The White House has suggested these tariffs would be on top of the across-the-board tariffs, meaning 50-per-cent tariffs for steel and aluminum from Canada. The country’s domestic steel and aluminum industry would be significantly hurt as Canada is the largest exporter of both commodities to the U.S.
A third executive order raises the possibility of reciprocal tariffs to match any tariff or trade barriers to U.S. goods. Details on how this would work are unclear but Mr. Trump has asked for a report on U.S. trade deficits due April 1.
“We need to be able to deal with the unpredictability of President Trump. We need to be aware that the threat of tariffs is a real one and may continue for a while,” Ms. Joly told reporters in a video conference call from the Canadian High Commission. “We need to stand strong and send a clear message that Canadians will fight back and that is what we will do.”
Ms. Joly noted that Canada is the only country under threat of U.S. tariffs that has told the White House it will bring in $155-billion of tariffs if the President goes through with across-the-board tariffs on his neighbours.
She urged Canada’s democratic and trading allies to join Ottawa in taking on the U.S. President’s “America First” economic agenda.
“It is important that allies under the threat work together and work as a coalition by having the same type of countermeasures,” Ms. Joly said.
Senator Hassan Yussuff, who is a member of the Prime Minister’s trade advisory panel, said it is “reprehensible” for the President to punish Canada with trade tariffs given the close relationship between the two countries.
“There can’t be any justification – no matter how the President tries to justify what he is doing to our country by imposing these tariffs,” said Mr. Yussuff, the former president of the Canadian Labour Congress. “We are not an unfair trading nation. We have always traded fairly with the United States.”
It is also a violation of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that was negotiated during Mr. Trump’s first term in 2018, he said.
Mr. Yussuff said Canada will have no choice but to impose similar tariffs on U.S. imports even if it causes economic harm.
“We should try to do everything to get the President to take a different approach,” he said. “But ultimately, if he imposes tariffs on us, there is no question we have to retaliate with dollar-for-dollar tariffs. This will be hard on our country but Canadians know this is unfair and unjustified and we have to show the President our resolve.”
Mr. Trump initially threatened tariffs saying Canada and Mexico needed to take stronger action to stop the flow of fentanyl and illegal migrants from coming in to the United States.
Both countries responded to U.S. demands for action, with Mexico sending 10,000 troops to the southern border and Canada committing to spend $1.3-billion over six years to strengthen northern border security. Ottawa also named a fentanyl czar and listed seven transnational crime groups, including five Mexican cartels, as terrorist organizations.
In a phone call between Mr. Trump and the Prime Minister on Saturday, Mr. Trudeau emphasized the recent Canadian border measures. The White House said in a readout that Mr. Trudeau told the President that “Canada has enforced a 90-per-cent reduction in fentanyl crossing the U.S. Northern Border, and that the Canadian Border Czar would be in the United States next week.”
In the Canadian readout, the Prime Minister’s Office said: “The Prime Minister noted seizures of fentanyl at the border have decreased.”
Ms. Joly said Canada has received positive feedback from many American officials regarding Ottawa’s actions on the border. She noted that the U.S. is a net exporter of fentanyl, illegal guns and undocumented migrants into Canada.
Mr. Trump imposed 10-per-cent tariffs on Chinese goods on Feb. 4 as a response to fentanyl. Beijing responded with countertariffs.
Provincial premiers, fearing the economic damage to their economies, have also been trekking to Washington in recent weeks to lobby against U.S. tariffs.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe will head to Washington again this week in what he said what was an effort to lessen tensions and build the case for cross-border trade.
“Saskatchewan companies play a critical role in North American food and energy security,” Mr. Moe said in a statement. “The relationship between our jurisdictions has mutual benefit, and we are working with key stakeholders, industry leaders and government representatives on both sides of the border to build and protect our economies.”
Business leaders on the Moe trip include representatives from steelmaker Evraz North America, uranium producer Cameco Corp., and oil and gas producers Cenovus Energy Inc., Enbridge Inc. and Whitecap Resources Inc.
“The Trump administration’s pursuit of energy dominance and its support for domestic nuclear power will require Saskatchewan uranium – and Cameco’s expertise and capacity across the nuclear fuel cycle,” Cameco chief executive officer Tim Gitzel said.
With a report from The Canadian Press