Lutnick says he expects Trump to pause Canada tariffs

At Queen’s Park, Premier Doug Ford confirms to reporters what he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer earlier today, his government will issue a ministerial directive Monday imposing a 25 per cent export tax on electricity Ontario sells to Michigan, New York and Minnesota.

“Once you get burnt, you don’t touch that stove again,” Ford says in a salvo at Donald Trump. If Trump backs down on his tariffs Ontario will not slap the tax on American electricity exports. The premier has spoken to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

12:09 p.m. In a Montreal news conference, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh doubled down on his demand that Canada not allow Trump into the country for June’s G7 meeting, and opposed making any concessions to the U.S. president. –Mark Ramzy

12:05 p.m. The head of Canada’s Auto Parts Manufacturers’ Association said the exemptions aren’t about Trump being magnanimous. “He’s carving out these exemptions not because it’s good for Canada or Mexico. He’s doing it because Americans are getting hurt,” said APMA CEO Flavio Volpe. – Josh Rubin

12:04 p.m. Mayors on both sides of the Ontario-U.S. border agree that tariffs are “going to be devastating” and must be stopped, says Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, who is currently in Washington with other leaders to meet with U.S. lawmakers.

Meed Ward, who chairs Ontario’s Big City Mayors, arrived Wednesday night for the gathering of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Cities Initiative’s annual Washington day that brings together leaders to discuss the environmental and economic health those areas bordering the waterways.

Ward said her own city of Burlington “is a Great Lake city, so we care both about environmental health, but a huge focus of our delegations with Congress leaders has been about tariffs … this is definitely an opportune time to make the case that a trade war will hurt both our countries.”

Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath, Brampton’s Patrick Brown, and Toronto Deputy Mayor Paul Ainslie, among others, have also made the trip to the U.S. capital.

The mayors have met in small groups with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers from Indiana and Michigan.

Meed Ward said the conversations have “been very positive, giving them new information or information about how this affects their own region, and they’ve committed to bringing that back to all of the decision-makers.”

Municipalities will suffer if companies close, and jobs are lost because of the tariff war.

“Right now, we are hoping this will end soon – if it ends soon, we can weather it,” she said. “But if this is prolonged, it’s going to close businesses. People will lose their jobs, and they’re going to have they’re going to have trouble participating in city programs” and that will in turn affect city revenues and taxes.

Ontario’s Big City Mayors represents leaders of 29 cities with a population of 100,000 or more. – Kris Rushowy

All’s fair in love and (trade) war. Not quite, said the CEO of the American company that makes Jack Daniel’s whiskey.

Canada’s not playing fair, Lawson Whiting, chief executive of Brown-Forman, told shareholders on a March 6 earnings call.

The LCBO, one of the world’s largest purchasers of alcohol, took U.S. liquor off shelves in retaliation against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, a “disproportionate response” that is “worse than a tariff,” Whiting said.

Mayor Olivia Chow says she plans to ban U.S. companies from bidding on contracts with the City of Toronto.

At a press conference Thursday morning to talk about the procurement of new TTC streetcars, Chow provided an update on her administration’s response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on Canadian goods.

She confirmed that the city will award all contracts valued at less than $353,000 to Canadian companies exclusively. She also promised to present a motion to her executive committee “barring any U.S. companies from future Toronto contracts.”

Speaking on CNN, Premier Doug Ford said unless President Donald Trump completely withdraws his tariffs, Ontario will be “putting a 25 per cent tariff, on the electricity to the 1.5 million homes and businesses” the province supplies in New York, Michigan and Minnesota as of Monday.

“Isn’t that a shame we have to put a tariff on the electricity?” Ford told Wolf Blitzer.

“I think the world of all three governors in New York and Michigan and Minnesota,” said the premier, referring to Kathy Hochul, Gretchen Whitmer and Tim Walz.

“After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement. This Agreement is until April 2nd. I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum. Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl. Thank you to President Sheinbaum for your hard work and cooperation!” Trump said. 

11:34 a.m. On CNN, Premier Doug Ford tells Wolf Blitzer “what a mess President Trump has created here” with tariffs chaos. Ford blames “one man, President Trump” for the debacle. Blitzer, who grew up in Buffalo, New York, tells the premier how much he loves Canada.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick says he expects President Donald Trump will pause tariffs on Canada and Mexico until April 2.

Lutnick told CNBC he expects an agreement today on goods he says are compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade.

“Believe it or not, despite the terrible job he’s done for Canada, I think that Justin Trudeau is using the Tariff problem, which he has largely caused, in order to run again for Prime Minister. So much fun to watch!,” Trump said Thursday morning. 

10:57 a.m. Doug Ford posted on X that he will be on CNN at 11:25 a.m. “continuing to make clear directly to Americans that until all tariffs are removed and the threat is gone, Canada won’t relent.”

Canada’s main stock index fell nearly 300 points in early trading, while U.S. stock markets also fell, giving up gains they made Wednesday.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 276.57 points at 24,594.25.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 533.58 points at 42,473.01. The S&P 500 index was down 90.52 points at 5,752.11, while the Nasdaq composite was down 317.71 points at 18,235.02.

10:25 a.m. The press conference has ended.

10:24 a.m. It may have been Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s last news conference, apart from a speech to the Liberal Party Sunday.

And so it is worth noting he opened his nearly 10 years in office talking about gender balance in cabinet and shrugged, saying, “It’s 2015.”

Now he’s ending it talking about the craziness of dealing with President Trump, shrugging and saying it’s “Thursday.”

10:24 a.m. “I’ve had 10 years of Donald Trump, one historic, once in a century pandemic, inflation, crises, war in Europe as the Middle East is facing extraordinarily difficult situations,” Trudeau continues. 

“These have been complicated times. This is the job I signed up for. This is the job I will continue to do until the very last moment I’m doing this job.”

And he adds about getting emotional about leaving it? —“This has been the honour of my life.”

10:21 a.m. I asked Trudeau how he characterizes all this (tariffs). His minister Melanie Joly called it a psychodrama. He calls it “Thursday.” – Tonda MacCharles

10:18 a.m. Trudeau says he won’t stay on as a caretaker PM.

10:15 a.m. Trudeau says Lutnick’s comment to CNBC – that more exemptions for CUSMA-compliant products – is “promising” and aligns with what the government’s heard but he’ll wait to see it officially.

Trudeau says Trump led on the renegotiated NAFTA and it was a win-win-win for all three countries but Trump’s approach has been now America First, “And the big argument that we have to continue to make is that America First happens best when Canadians and Mexicans are prospering as well, that a win-lose between us would actually be worse for them than a win-win.”

Trudeau says “any carve-outs” from Trump’s tariffs would be “a good thing.”

10:08 a.m. Trudeau, in French, says even though the U.S. administration loves tariffs is in the middle of recognizing that it hits their automakers and others and will factor into how April 2 threat plays out.

10:05 a.m. Trudeau harkens back to his father’s legacy of the charter and multiculturalism when asked how important child care program is to him, and again underscores it as a crucial social and economic policy.

10:02 a.m. Trudeau: “I can confirm that we will continue to be in a trade war that was launched by the United States for the foreseeable future.”

10:01 a.m. Trudeau says the government is “actively engaged” in trying to make sure tariffs “don’t overly harm, certainly in the short term, certain sectors, or indeed, vast range of Canadian and American workers.”

But he won’t go into details, saying there are ongoing talks.

10 a.m. Asked about WSJ reporting there was profanity on the call, Trudeau won’t detail but said there were different “approaches and tones” used.

9:58 a.m. Trudeau describes the Trump call yesterday as “a colourful call.”

9:47 a.m. Trudeau said child care is “a foundational building block of a strong economy.”

9:56 a.m. Trudeau says the child care agreements signed with provinces expire next March and is warning they are at risk under the Conservatives. He’s getting emotional.

But when he got to this part, his eyes reddened and teared up, and his voice wobbled: “That’s why, here to tell you all, we got you even in the very last days of this government, we will not let Canadians down…We’ve been working with our provincial and territorial partners to make sure that families can rely on this system, not just for years to come, but will allow this system to lock in, to become something that no government a year from now, five years from now, 20 years from now, could ever go back on.”

9:56 a.m. Trudeau: “We’ll be taking action to support Canadians through the tough times ahead. You can count on leadership right across the country, municipalities, provinces and indeed your federal government, but mostly you can continue to count on each other.”

He has talked this week about adjustments to the EI program and the counter-tariff plan allows for “remissions” for Cdn importers who can’t adapt or source needed products elsewhere. But it is still unclear how the feds intend to support workers and employers exactly.

9:48 a.m. Trudeau: “We’ll be taking action to support Canadians through the tough times ahead. You can count on leadership right across the country, municipalities, provinces and indeed your federal government, but mostly you can continue to count on each other.”

He has talked this week about adjustments to the EI program and the counter-tariff plan allows for “remissions” for Cdn importers who can’t adapt or source needed products elsewhere. But it is still unclear how the feds intend to support workers and employers exactly.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tells a news conference of the call with Trump where he pressed the need to work together rather than fighting. “Our goal is to get all these tariffs removed.”

Trudeau urges Canadians to stay united and “pull together…as all of us stand together to defend Canada.”

8:50 a.m. (updated) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to visit a local child care centre at 9:30 a.m. Thursday and will make an announcement. Follow live updates. 

U.S. stock markets were set for another day of volatile trading after rallying Wednesday on news that President Donald Trump would delay tariffs for a month for vehicles coming to the U.S. through the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade.

However, the futures pointed to a negative open for stocks in the U.S. today, with other sectors clamouring for exemptions and still more tariff deadlines to come.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) — the sole purchaser of all American alcohol across the province — said Tuesday that all U.S. products would be removed from its stores and would be replaced “with suitable alternatives.”

“At the direction of the government of Ontario, we have stopped purchasing all U.S. products and U.S. products are no longer be available for sale,” the LCBO said in an email. “Products will be stored until further notice.”

Wholesale customers, including grocery and convenience stores, bars, restaurants and other retailers, can no longer place orders from the LCBO for U.S. products but are permitted to sell any remaining inventory.

Canada offered to delay its second phase of counter-tariffs against the U.S. if Donald Trump drops tariffs on all Canadian products — not just in the auto sector — that are covered by and comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement, the Star has learned.

High-stakes talks continued between Canadian and U.S. officials with no word about whether there would be more exemptions from Trump’s crippling 25-percent tariffs after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Trump held their longest call ever, and Trump announced he would exempt North American carmakers from tariffs for at least a month.

British Columbia is making contingency plans to reduce its reliance on electricity from the United States after the start of the continental trade war.

Such plans are typically made to prepare for natural disasters or emergencies, but this one has been spurred by something else.

“Unfortunately, now it’s contingency planning around a man-made disaster, made by the president of the United States,” Premier David Eby told reporters outside the Parliament buildings on Wednesday.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly’s office confirms she has briefed Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney on President Donald Trump’s tariffs days ahead of Sunday’s leadership vote this week.

Carney is the presumed front-runner for the party’s leadership and could become prime minister as early as next week — which would make Trump’s growing trade war with Canada his problem to sort out.

Joly told Liberal MPs at a national caucus meeting on Wednesday she has been briefing Carney ahead of the Sunday vote.

Amid continued threats of annexation from U.S. President Donald Trump, King Charles III sported Canadian military honours while visiting a British aircraft carrier on Tuesday, just a day after meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The King was visiting HMS Prince of Wales prior to it setting sail to Japan “on a mission that will deepen the UK’s defence partnerships and promote security and stability,” according to the Royal Navy.

“It’s quite significant to see King Charles III wearing these decorations in a British context right after meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,” said Carolyn Harris, a royal commentator and an instructor of history at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies.

Canada has offered to delay its second phase of counter-tariffs against the U.S. if the U.S. drops its tariffs on Canadian products covered by the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement beyond the auto sector, the Star has learned.

High-stakes talks continued late Wednesday between Canadian and U.S. officials, with no word as of yet about whether there will be more carve-outs from Trump’s tariffs, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump spoke.

The Trudeau government and Trump officials are discussing whether Trump will exempt other sectors, after the two leaders on Wednesday held their longest call ever.

According to a senior Canadian official, Trudeau and Trump spoke for 50 minutes, a conversation where the president was joined by Vice-President J.D. Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

It was at times heated, according to the Canadian side, as also reflected in Trump’s earlier social media post.

Trump laid out a lengthy list of trade irritants, including Canada’s sales taxes, digital services tax and its protections for dairy farmers. Trump did not agree Canada had done enough on the border as Trudeau pushed back. And Trump on the call also accused Trudeau of trying to hold on to power.

The Canadian official, who the Star agreed not to identify because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive bilateral talks, said Trump demanded Canada drop its retaliatory tariffs altogether. Trudeau declined, but agreed that he could be persuaded to delay the second tranche of counter-measures, while counter-tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. imports would remain in place.

Ottawa has proposed a second round of tariffs on another $125 billion worth of American products, and is discussing a range of non-tariff measures with provinces, such as the moves announced by premiers to haul American booze off provincially run liquor store shelves, and to bar American companies from government procurement contracts.

The head of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association — which represents the Big Three Detroit automakers Ford, GM and Stellantis — praised the 30-day auto tariff delay. “The CVMA welcomes the U.S. tariff exemption provided for Canadian-manufactured vehicles and parts that meet stringent USMCA/CUSMA content requirements. We look forward to working on a permanent solution that recognizes the integration of the North American market and reinforces the strong standards established in the USMCA/CUSMA,” said CVMA president Brian Kingston.

The head of Canada’s largest private sector union called the 30-day reprieve an “extortion tactic.”

“What changed from yesterday and what is going to change in the next 30 days? The only thing that has changed is that Trump realized his tariffs were about to bring the U.S. auto sector to a grinding halt. Now he’s granting an extension to use that time to try to extract commitments from the companies to divest from Canada,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne.

“As long as the threat remains this extension doesn’t really change anything. The result is another month of instability in the auto industry, another month to pressure companies to move plants, another month to try to squeeze the Canadian government,” added Payne. “Trump has made it clear he wants our jobs. We need to remain on guard against any attempt to sacrifice Canadian workers and jobs in order to appease Trump.”

B.C. Premier David Eby signals that Canadian provinces are “very close” to dropping barriers for interprovincial direct-to-consumer sales of alcohol products. He says that “what the carve out for automobile parts tells me is that Trump has realized in fewer than 24 hours how integrated our two economies are.” He says he expects when the tariffs register pain for U.S. consumers, for example, on lumber products or aluminum, there will be more exemptions to come.

On the heels of President Donald Trump imposing 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods entering the U.S. earlier this week, some Canadian companies and brands are getting creative with deals and advertising campaigns that capitalize on the trade war.

Hefty tariffs on Canadian goods took effect this week, as Trump made good on threats against the United States’ largest trading partners like Mexico and China.

Here are a few Canadian companies hoping to capitalize on that have embraced the economic chaos.

The Edmonton-based low-cost airline got an early jump on the tariff trend Monday night, sending an email to customers advertising “tariffic flight deals.”

OTTAWA —The White House says the auto sector will get a one-month reprieve from Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs, but did not signal any long term exemption for car-makers or any other Canadian industry following the U.S. president’s talks with American automotive executives, and separately with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the brief pause on tariffs for auto manufacturers during a news conference Wednesday afternoon, and dismissively referenced a call earlier in the day between Trump and Trudeau, as did the president, both addressing the prime minister as “governor.”

It was not immediately clear whether Trump intends to exempt the auto sector from 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum that are due to take effect March 12 on the products, which are key to the auto manufacturing sector.

From California-grown tomatoes to shampoo, Canadians could feel the impacts of Ottawa’s retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. on their wallets in mere days, experts say.

Hours after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian imports into the U.S., the Canadian government announced counter-tariffs on $30-billion worth of American-made goods, including citrus, poultry, eggs, diary and coffee. A much longer list targeting $125 billion in U.S. goods is in the works, with officials conducting a 21-day consultation on a proposed draft.

“Canada will not stand by as the United States imposes unwarranted and unreasonable tariffs on Canadian goods,” the nation’s Department of Finance said in a news release Tuesday.

For all of U.S. President Donald Trump’s bluster that the U.S. doesn’t “need anything” from Canada, the reality is America is dependent on Canadian shipments of critical materials, from potash to aluminum, supply chain experts say.

It’s unlikely American companies will find suppliers to replace the Canadian manufacturers of these goods any time soon, analysts continue — meaning many U.S. importers will be forced to pay extra for the same supplies, a result of Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian products (and 10 per cent duties on Canadian oil and gas).

“All these things will end up driving up costs for producers in the U.S., manufacturers, farmers — and ultimately hit the pocketbooks of U.S. consumers,” explained Fraser Johnson, the Leenders Supply Chain Management Association Chair at Western University’s Ivey Business School.

HALIFAX—Nova Scotia’s premier is hoping to build momentum on freeing up trade within Canada, as the country deals with the economic stress caused by tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Tim Houston told reporters Wednesday that while the country’s premiers acknowledge internal trade barriers have to come down, he was “less than impressed” with the urgency of some unnamed trade ministers during a meeting in Toronto last Friday.

The premier, who is also Nova Scotia’s trade minister, took part in the Committee on Internal Trade meeting with federal Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand.

Ron Lemaire, president of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, is in Washington D.C. to meet with U.S. congress people and senators over tariffs.

Through these meetings, he told the Star Wednesday afternoon, he’s learned that the U.S. fruit and vegetable industry is “very much” on Canada’s side.

“They see the importance of the Canadian market,” he said. “They don’t want to be going down this path of a tariff environment, no more than the Canadians.” — Nathan Bawaan

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who had been the least hawkish of Canadian leaders on the Trump tariffs, has announced retaliatory measures against the U.S. Smith says American products will be removed from Alberta’s liquor stores. She rejects Trump’s claim that he doesn’t need Alberta oil. But Smith said Alberta shouldn’t cut off oil shipments stateside and she says she still opposes excise taxes on energy exports.

It’s not a coincidence that the two biggest sectors of Canada’s exports to the U.S. are the ones catching something of a break in the trade war, said Jim Stanford, an economist with the Centre for Future Work.

“Clearly, the Trump government is under severe pressure from American companies to avoid the disaster that his tariffs would cause,” said Stanford, adding that the pause gives some time for Trump to step back from the ledge.

“He now has to try to find a face-saving way to back away. These tariffs will be as disastrous in 30 days as they would have been today,” Stanford said.

American businesses who count on other Canadian imports are also likely making their case to Trump for exceptions, Stanford added.

“I’m sure he’s hearing from every American company that uses aluminum as an input why this is going to be a disaster for them,” said Stanford, adding that American farmers count on potash from Saskatchewan for use in fertilizers they use on their fields.

Luckily, there are no tariffs on Doug Ford’s media appearances.

Or this province would be bankrupt. The premier of Ontario is now the King of News south of the border. On Wednesday morning, Mr. Ford took to ABC airwaves to shred the Most Idiotic Trade War in History.

Canada loves America, Ford explained, but we can’t abide an unprovoked economic assault without fighting back hard. Ford was perched in front of a “Canada Is Not For Sale” backdrop. He exuded the body language of a reluctant street brawler with a gentle heart.

1:57 p.m. Leavitt was asked what Trump means by calling Trudeau “governor” and whether there are “any plans” to make Canada the 51st state.

Leavitt replied by referring to Trump’s earlier Truth Social post, and added: “He feels strongly that it would be very beneficial to the Canadian people to be the 51st State of the United States. They wouldn’t pay be paying for these tariffs. They’d have much lower taxes if they were part of our great country.”

1:50 p.m. Leavitt said the president told the Big Three automakers that he wanted them to shift production to the U.S. “He told them that he they should get on it, start investing, start moving shift production here to be that in case of America, where they will pay no tariff, that’s the ultimate goal.”

1:37 p.m. The auto sector will get a one month exemption from tariffs, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a press briefing.

 “The President sent me out here with a statement directly from him on this …we spoke with the big three auto dealers, we are going to give a one-month exemption on any autos coming through USMCA. Reciprocal tariffs will still go into effect on April 2, but at the request of the companies associated with USMCA, the president is giving them an exemption for one month so they are not at an economic disadvantage,” Leavitt said. 

The implication of this exemption is that any autos that are compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement – meaning they meet the North American content requirements – would be exempt from tariffs for one month, until Trump deals with his broader global reciprocal tariff threats.

But it is not entirely clear whether this also means the auto sector will also escape 25-percent tariffs due to take effect Mar. 12 on steel and aluminum – which is also key to the auto manufacturing sector.

At Queen’s Park, Premier Doug Ford, who has already spoken with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Wednesday, said “we’re on the same page.”

“Zero tariffs, and we are not going to budge. We aren’t going to buckle down. Let’s move forward to the USMCA deal, or CUSMA deal, or NAFTA, whatever you want to call it, and let’s start moving forward. But we will not budge. Zero tariffs, and that’s it,” said Ford.

U.S. President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “called me to ask what could be done about Tariffs.”

“I told him that many people have died from Fentanyl that came through the Borders of Canada and Mexico, and nothing has convinced me that it has stopped. He said that it’s gotten better, but I said, “That’s not good enough.” The call ended in a “somewhat” friendly manner! He was unable to tell me when the Canadian Election is taking place, which made me curious, like, what’s going on here? I then realized he is trying to use this issue to stay in power. Good luck Justin!”

Trump further posted that “I also told Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada that he largely caused the problems we have with them because of his Weak Border Policies, which allowed tremendous amounts of Fentanyl, and Illegal Aliens, to pour into the United States. These Policies are responsible for the death of many people!”

Trump has invoked a national security emergency at the northern and southern borders with Canada and Mexico in order to levy tariffs, which is why he continues to go back to the border issue.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office confirmed in a release that he spoke to Trump this morning, but offered only a brief readout of their conversation: “The Prime Minister and President spoke today about trade and fentanyl. Both countries will continue to be in contact today.”

Canadians overwhelmingly support retaliatory measures against Donald Trump’s tariffs and most think “negatively” about the U.S. president, a new poll suggests.

The Pollara Strategic Insights survey, conducted before Trump’s levies took effect Tuesday, found only 14 per cent feel positively about him while 76 per cent have negative feelings with the rest undecided.

Dan Arnold, chief strategy officer at Pollara, said the survey contained warning signs for federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in his looming faceoff with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal successor.

12:52 p.m. The union representing some 20,000 Mounties across Canada says the federal government’s $1.3 billion border security package is “a step forward,” but it does “not address the immediate need for additional RCMP officers who are equipped to handle the complexities of border security.”

In a release Wednesday morning amid border tensions with the U.S., the National Police Federation said it opposes any talk of expanding the mandate of Canada’s border agents for security between official ports of entry, and that the RCMP should retain exclusive responsibility for policing outside those entry points.

“The only approach to effective national border security is led by the RCMP,” the Mounties’ union said.

“The RCMP is the only agency with officers capable of investigating criminal activities, patrolling remote and rural border regions, and countering organized crime and national security threats through an established and globally respected operational model,” the statement said.

The NPF noted that the union representing border guards at the Canada Border Services Agency has already said it is short more than 2,000 front-line staff to meet its current mandate, and “currently searches only 1 per cent of goods coming into Canada through designated ports of entry.”

The Mounties’ union said that other patrols, enforcement, arrests, investigations and collaboration with local, provincial, state and federal law enforcement agencies “requires highly trained and specialized policing skills and resources.”

Brian Sauvé, head of the union, said, “Rather than duplicating efforts and diverting resources to other agencies ill-equipped for the task, like sheriffs who have authority only to detain a person before entrusting carriage of them to the RCMP, the federal government must invest in expanding the RCMP’s Federal Policing Program.”

It urged Ottawa to hire at least 1,000 additional officers to bolster national security and enforcement efforts, increase training capacity at the RCMP cadet academy in Regina to produce about 480 new officers annually and reduce application processing times.

It also called for speedier access to new technologies and essential equipment to enhance operational effectiveness, and expanded integrated enforcement teams and intelligence networks.

News that U.S. President Donald Trump could give some industries a break on tariffs sent automotive shares higher Wednesday morning.

In an interview on Bloomberg TV, U.S. commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said Trump would be making an announcement on whether some imports from Canada and Mexico would be getting a break from the across-the-board 25 per cent tariffs.

News that U.S. President Donald Trump could give some industries a break on tariffs sent automotive shares higher Wednesday morning.

In an interview on Bloomberg TV, U.S. commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said Trump would be making an announcement on whether some imports from Canada and Mexico would be getting a break from the across-the-board 25 per cent tariffs.

11:35 a.m. At Queen’s Park, Premier Doug Ford, who is currently meeting with his cabinet, told reporters he had a “good conversation” with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday and that he (Ford) would provide an update later today.

“Let’s stay tuned until after the prime minister meets with Trump,” he said.  –Kris Rushowy

Airlines and travel companies are seeing bookings to the United States plummet as Canadians rethink their plans amid anger toward U.S. President Donald Trump as well as a weak loonie.

Travel agency Flight Centre Travel Group Canada says February bookings to American cities dropped 40 per cent from the same month in 2024, while one in five customers cancelled their trips to the U.S. over the past three months.

Air Canada announced last month it would reduce flights by 10 per cent to Florida, Las Vegas and Arizona in March — usually go-to hot spots during spring break season.

Canada’s main stock index moved higher shortly after the open, while U.S. markets were mixed after U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested that some categories of goods including the auto sector might be exempted from the crippling U.S. tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico imposed on Tuesday.

Strength in base metal stocks helped the S&P/TSX composite index gain 35.58 points at 24,607.58 in early trading after plunging more than 400 points on Tuesday.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 66.83 points at 42,587.82. The S&P 500 index was up 2.68 points at 5,780.83, while the Nasdaq composite was down 16.77 points at 18,268.39.

10:54 a.m.  Canada’s industry minister says he is looking to block what he calls “predatory investment behaviour” during the trade war with the U.S.

François-Philippe Champagne says Canadian businesses made vulnerable by tariffs could be under threat from foreign investors looking to take advantage.

Champagne is updating the Investment Canada Act to include a new factor the federal government must consider when weighing whether a deal can go ahead: whether the investment could undermine Canada’s economic security.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in an interview on Bloomberg TV that he expects U.S. President Donald Trump will have an announcement regarding the tariffs on Canada and Mexico this afternoon.

Lutnick insisted repeatedly that the tariffs on Canada and Mexico were about fentanyl coming into the U.S. from its neighbours.

He suggested the tariffs will remain at 25 per cent, but that there could be some categories of goods that might be exempted.

Lutnick said there could be some categories left out including the auto sector if they are compliant with the rules under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that was negotiated in Trump’s first term.

Some in the crowd also yelled out anti-Donald Trump sentiments during the anthem.

The crowd then joined together to sing O Canada.

Similar vocal protests have been staged at sporting events across the country following Trump’s announcement of tariffs and musings about Canada becoming the 51st state.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Fox Business that he thinks Trump will meet Canada and Mexico “in the middle” on tariffs, with an announcement likely to come Wednesday.

Lutnick says he thinks Trump is “going to think about” the free trade agreement between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

If there was any doubt that Canada-U.S. relations have reached a breaking point this week, Justin Trudeau dispelled it in a remarkable address on Tuesday that tackled Donald Trump head on and personally.

It can be argued that no Canadian prime minister, at least in living memory, has called out an American president in such a public, withering way. “We’re insulted and we’re angry,” Trudeau said bluntly.

It started with Trudeau’s opening line, when he put the newly levied tariffs against Canada and Mexico in the larger frame of Trump’s disruption of world order.

Trump vowed to keep up his campaign of “swift and unrelenting action” in reorienting the nation’s economy, immigration and foreign policy in an unyielding address before Congress that left Democratic legislators to register their dissent with stone faces, placards calling out “lies,” and one legislator’s ejection.

“I want Americans to stop being murdered by opioids and fentanyl,” he told host Larry Kudrow, who was an economic advisor during Trump’s first presidential term.

Toronto-area home sales plummeted in February and new listings jumped as buyers remain on the sidelines amid the U.S. trade war.

Sales in the GTA dropped by more than 27 per cent year over year and new listings increased by 5.4 per cent. The slow sales and increasing supply resulted in active listings surging by 76 per cent in February compared to the same time last year, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s (TRREB) February report.

“On top of lingering affordability concerns, homebuyers have arguably become less confident in the economy,” TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer said in the report.

Millions of Canadians woke up Tuesday to discover Canada had entered a trade war with its closest trading partner, the likes of which has not been seen since the Great Depression.

The fallout of Trump’s tariffs means some sectors will face mass layoffs due to declines in business investment and demand for Canadian exports to the U.S., while many goods and services are about to get more expensive in the wake of Canada’s retaliatory levies.

“Trump’s tariff hammer will come down hard on Canada’s economy,” warned Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO, adding that the bank is now forecasting a “modest recession” in Canada.

U.S. President Donald Trump may be okay with the “little disturbance” caused by American tariffs on Canada and other trading partners, as he claimed Tuesday night.

The Republican lawmakers who, after Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress, fluffed his gargantuan ego, congratulating him on delivering a “homerun” address, may be okay with it too.

They might be willing, as Trump urged nervous American farmers in his 100-minute monologue, to “bear with me” as Washington sows economic chaos and runs roughshod over the world, in a bid to make America great again at the expense of the country’s longtime partners.

Late Tuesday, as the president was addressing Congress, the Star confirmed news first reported in American media that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump were scheduled to speak Wednesday morning.

Trump also repeated his claims that Canada and Mexico are allowing fentanyl to enter the U.S. illegally “at levels never seen before.”

“If you don’t make your product in America, however, under the Trump administration, you will pay a tariff, and in some cases, a rather large one. Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades and now it’s our turn to start using them against those other countries, on average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada. Have you heard of them?”

Trump claimed “countless other nations charge us tremendously higher tariffs than we charge them,” and said, “this system is not fair to the United States, and never was.”

Trump says he will seek permanent income tax cuts including no tax on tips, no tax on overtime and no tax on Social Security benefits for our great seniors, and make interest payments on car loans tax deductible but only if they’re built in America. He boasts the auto sector in America is going to boom.

“We’re gonna have growth in the auto industry like nobody’s ever seen. Plants are opening up all over the place.” He claimed this is due to “a combination of the election win and tariffs. It’s a beautiful word isn’t it?” Thirty-five minutes into the speech, this is the first time he has mentioned tariffs.

Trump says, “Among my very highest priorities is to rescue our economy and get dramatic and immediate relief to working families. As you know, we inherited from the last administration an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare.”

He says he wants to make America “affordable again,” and reduce the cost of energy. He has not yet addressed how the imposition of tariffs — to be paid by American importers and consumers — will advance those priorities. But he’s nowhere near done.

In his speech to the U.S. Congress, President Donald Trump boasted that his declaration of emergency on the southern border with Mexico had deployed “US military and border patrol to repel the invasion of our country, and what a job they’ve done as a result: illegal border crossings last month were by far the lowest ever recorded.”

Ten minutes into his speech, he had not yet referenced the northern border crossing with Canada.

President Donald Trump will address Congress and the American people Tuesday night as he lays out his plans for the months ahead.

The president’s remarks are slated to begin at 9 p.m. EST. Trump’s dizzying first weeks in office have featured a dismantling of the federal government, tensions with America’s allies and a trade war compounding economic uncertainty.

Business groups and union leaders across Canada blasted U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war Tuesday, calling it “self-defeating,” “shocking” and an “economic call to arms.”

Trump’s decision to go ahead with 25 per cent tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico — which kicked in Tuesday at 12:01 a.m., is a return to the 1800s, said Candace Laing, CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

“The U.S. government’s self-defeating tariff policy disregards decades of success and trillions in trade to try and revive a failed economic model from the 1800s,” said Laing in a written statement. “The U.S. can claim this policy is about hitting Canada where it hurts, but it will soon see the disastrous impacts at home in cities like Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Louisville.”

If there was any doubt that Canada-U.S. relations have reached a breaking point this week, Justin Trudeau dispelled it in a remarkable address on Tuesday that tackled Donald Trump head on and personally, writes Susan Delacourt.

It can be argued that no Canadian prime minister, at least in living memory, has called out an American president in such a public, withering way. “We’re insulted and we’re angry,” Trudeau said bluntly.

The U.S. will not annex Canada, writes David Olive. It’s too weak to do so.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened 25 per cent tariffs on most goods imported from Canada and Mexico went into effect Tuesday.

Trump has often expressed his predatory regard for Canada.But America lacks the ability to occupy the world’s second-largest country.

Putting aside the downfall of Napoleon and Hitler after they invaded Russia, the U.S. has too many internal crises to engage in large-scale territorial aggression.

The U.S. is heading toward insolvency.

America’s budget deficit hit $1.8 trillion (U.S.) in 2024, the third-highest shortfall in history after the pandemic-related deficits of 2020 and 2021.

Protesters who gathered across the U.S. to push back against Trump’s second-term agenda have so many things that they’re mad about that they’re having trouble settling on a single, unifying theme.

“There are so many things to fight, but I hope by being here we are starting some conversations,” said Sara Grummer-Strawn, a protester in Atlanta who held a sign declaring “So Much Wrong, So Little Space,” followed by a small-print litany of topics from Ukraine and tariffs to potential education cuts to the denial of climate and vaccine science.

Along with tariffs and Trump’s reset on the war in Ukraine, protesters decried the aggressive and sometimes legally dubious actions of the Department of Government Efficiency and its leader, billionaire Elon Musk.

Trump was called a fascist, a “Russian asset,” “Putin’s Puppet” and “Wannabe King,” among other, more profane monikers. One signed implored “Punch Nazis,” reflecting an increasingly common effort to compare Trump’s presidency to Nazi Germany.

In an interview with the Toronto Star, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey said “there needs to be a strategic approach that balances appeasement with escalation” and that the prime minister’s remarks struck the right balance Tuesday, and alerted Canadians to the real threat they face.

Furey said one of the most “chilling moments” the premiers faced on their recent trip to Washington was to hear American officials tell them “in very straight and direct terms that ‘take the president at his word.’”

“And they were confused, perhaps, that we were confused that this could be just rhetoric.” American officials told them Trump was serious about tariffs and about his belief that “Canada could be a beautiful 51st state.”

Furey said American officials have also conveyed to the federal government Trump sees tariffs as a way to raise revenues and to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.

“He’s never going to change his mind,” said Furey.

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly tells CBC that the Canadian and Mexican government officials have been unable to speak directly with their counterparts Tuesday on a day when the U.S. launched a trade war against them.

She said has set up a conversation with Secretary of State Marco Rubio tomorrow. Joly said the president has invoked a national security crisis at the border to justify his tariffs and “if the president is not using these powers according to his own constitution” those are questions for him.

Yukon is no longer placing orders for U.S.-made alcohol and is removing American products from for all government liquor stores in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods.

A statement from Premier Ranj Pillai says businesses may continue to sell the American-made products they already have in stock, but no new orders for U.S. alcohol will be placed by the territory’s distributor, the Yukon Liquor Corporation.

Pillai says the 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods by the United States are “unjustified and short-sighted” and his government is updated its procurement policies to encourage the purchase of more goods and services from local businesses and non-U. S. companies.

ST. JOHN’S, N.L.—Atlantic Canadian premiers woke up Tuesday in a trade war with the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on most Canadian products, making good on months of threats. Energy flowing from Canada to the U.S. will be hit with 10 per cent duties.

The tariffs mark a stark new reality and a turning point for Atlantic Canada, says New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt.

The Canadian Live Music Association says it’s responding to the U.S. tariffs with a new campaign to promote homegrown musicians and venues.

The music advocacy group says it will launch “Canada is Live Music” in the coming weeks and draw attention to concerts as “a tangible lever that inspires solidarity and national pride.”

The public awareness campaign will also promote live music’s role as a driver of jobs, the economy and culture, as well as encourage various levels of government to work more closely with the sector.

The push comes after U.S. President Donald Trump slapped a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods on Tuesday, which even before its introduction had ratcheted up tensions between the two countries and stoked national pride at home.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said he’ll bring in tax deferrals on “provincially administered taxes like the health and education levy and the retail sales tax” to allow businesses to keep cash on hand to protect workers and their jobs; will pull American booze off Manitoba liquor shelves, and will roll out unspecified additional “non-tariff measures” if the U.S. tariffs persist. Kinew said he fully supports the federal government’s retaliatory counter-tariff plan.

Kinew says the provincial Crown corp Manitoba Liquor Mart will withdraw American alcohol and the province is asking privately owned shops that sell booze to do the same, saying that they’re on board.

“The good news about this is that the Canadian booze is way better than the American stuff,” he said. He said on the premiers’ call with the Prime Minister today he urged other provinces to use this shipping season out of Churchill as “proof of concept to show how we can diversify reaching international markets” for critical minerals, agricultural and mining products, energy and others.

“Let’s be serious about Trump proofing our Canadian economy, including accessing international markets through tidewater in Churchill.”

If there was any doubt that Canada-U.S. relations have reached a breaking point this week, Justin Trudeau dispelled it in a remarkable address on Tuesday that tackled Donald Trump head on and personally.

It can be argued that no Canadian prime minister, at least in living memory, has called out an American president in such a public, withering way. “We’re insulted and we’re angry,” Trudeau said bluntly.

It started with Trudeau’s opening line, when he put the newly levied tariffs against Canada and Mexico in the larger frame of Trump’s disruption of world order.

“Today the United States launched a trade war against Canada. At the same time, they’re talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator,” Trudeau said. “Make that make sense.”

He devoted part of his prepared remarks to addressing Trump directly, calling him “Donald,” which could be interpreted as an appeal to the personal relationship, but also, perhaps, a not-so-subtle reply to being repeatedly called “governor” by the president (which Trump did again on Tuesday in a social media post).

“I want to speak directly to one specific American,” Trudeau said. “Donald, in over eight years, you and I have worked together, we’ve done big things. We signed a historic deal that has created record jobs and growth in both of our countries. We’ve done big things together on the world stage.”

Brace yourselves. Because this is almost certainly just the beginning.

The 25 per cent tariffs imposed Tuesday by U.S. President Donald Trump are the launch of a trade war, not the extent of it. Already on Trump’s docket are additional 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum coming March 12, tariffs on agricultural products and cars coming April 2, more tariffs on lumber coming beyond that.

Looming over all of it is Trump’s persistently repeated desire to take over Canada through economic force.

Watching Trump, in the same week as these tariffs finally hit, pull out the underpinnings of the democratic world order by belligerently and publicly siding with Russia in the Ukraine war, leaves no room for reassuring theories that this is just some negotiating tactic.

In an interview, Unifor national president Lana Payne said Canada needs to hit back with everything it has.

“This is an all out trade war. And this president has been engaged in economic warfare against for multiple weeks against Canada and Canadian workers,” said Payne. “We don’t have a choice here. If we want to have an industry that survives in this country, Canada is going to have to retaliate with tariffs but also with non-tariff measures. … The tariffs alone will not be enough. We’re going to have to look at what we send to the United States and what we don’t send anymore. We’re going to have to look at what we charge for those things,” said Payne.

Retaliation is the only way to help end the war, Payne said.

“What I understand from my world of bargaining and getting into a place like this — there’s got to be a way to bring it to a head. And apparently the only way it is brought to a head is, is if there is also a recognition south of the border that this is bad for them. And right now, not enough people are screaming, ‘this is bad for us.’ And so we’ve got to get to that place.”

Hours after sweeping tariffs were imposed by the U.S., Canadian officials began to make their feelings clear.

“An unjustifiable attack,” a “foolish” failure, a threat to Canada’s sovereignty — or, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau put it, “a very dumb thing to do.”

Trudeau, speaking to reporters in Ottawa Tuesday morning, accused the Trump administration of starting a trade war against its “closest partner,” while at the same time, seeking to appease Russia, which he called a “murderous dictatorship.”

On Tuesday, the U.S. imposed 25 per cent tariffs on almost all goods from both Canada and Mexico, along with a 10 per cent tariff on Canada’s energy exports. In turn, Canada has levied an initial 25 per cent tariff on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods, with a promise to extend them to $125 billion in American goods near the end of March.

Asked if he views the tariffs as an act of war, Trudeau called the move a “policy decision (…) designed to go after the Canadian economy.”

“This is a trade war, yes,” he said.

WINNIPEG—The Manitoba government is pulling United States products from liquor store shelves and offering tax deferrals to Manitoba businesses.

The moves, announced on social media by Premier Wab Kinew, are in response to tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Kinew says because of the tariffs, businesses will be able to defer paying their provincial payroll and sales taxes for at least three months.

He says that will protect jobs and let businesses keep cash on hand.

Workers at the General Motors CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ont. were told to stay home this week and next week due to “volume correction,” Mike Van Boekel, chair of the local Unifor union at the plant, said.

But with the start of Trump’s tariffs on Tuesday, Boekel fears he and other workers won’t be back to work anytime soon.

“If 25 per cent tariffs stay, I would think the whole industry will shut down within a week or 10 days,” he said.

Still, he supports the response from Canadian officials at all levels of government to Trump’s trade policies.

“I think we have to do something. I think we just can’t sit there and take it.”

REGINA—Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is facing calls from within his province and from a fellow premier to hit back on punishing U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters Tuesday Moe should consider no longer selling potash, uranium and oil to the United States and instead find different markets.

“I consider Scott Moe a good friend of mine … and I’ve talked to him. We need to make sure America feels the pain,” Ford said.

“Without potash down there, (the United States) doesn’t have a farming system. When it comes to uranium, they’re using that to enrich their uranium down in the U.S. for their nuclear energy.

“Everyone wants (Moe’s) uranium, but ship it out to other places.”

OTTAWA—The United States imposed sweeping tariffs Tuesday on Canadian products, claiming Canada has failed to adequately address the southbound flow of contraband drugs like fentanyl.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dismissed the U.S. rationale as “completely bogus, completely unjustified, completely false.”

“Our border is already safe and secure,” Trudeau told a news conference Tuesday.

He said Canada accounts for well under one per cent of fentanyl seized at the northern border and less than one per cent of illegal crossings into the United States.

“But we acted because we know we can always do better,” he said.

2:05 p.m. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called Trump’s tariffs “illegal” but praised Canadian “defiance” in a news conference on Tuesday, as he repeated his call for an emergency sitting of Parliament for a looming crisis that he said could be worse than the pandemic.

Singh is calling for an expansion to EI eligibility and amounts to support workers affected by Trump’s tariffs.

Singh was not clear about what supports require legislation in Parliament to be implemented.

Singh said he has not had any discussions with any government officials or Liberal leadership candidates about a possible relief package for Canadians.

2 p.m. Tuesday’s tariffs — combined with additional tariffs on steel and aluminum scheduled to take effect next week — are going to wreak havoc on the highly-integrated auto industry, said Flavio Volpe, president and CEO of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association.

Volpe said automotive assembly plants and parts makers across the continent will be shut down within a week. “Everybody is very anxious, waiting for the moment when their customers are going to say ‘stop shipping,’” Volpe said in an interview.

Canadian views on Trump and America have reached historic lows, shows an Angus Reid poll of 2,005 released Tuesday.

Only 24 per cent of respondents hold a favourable view of the U.S., down from 40 per cent in January, while only 23 per cent say the Canadian government should be treating our southern neighbours as a “valued partner and ally” or “on friendly terms.”

Fifty-five per cent of respondents to the poll chose “angry” among a list of words to describe their feelings towards Trump’s threat of tariffs and annexation. The other two most commonly chosen words were “betrayed” and “anxious.”

Trump’s tariffs are a “reckless attack on all workers, both Canadian and American,” Teamsters Canada president François Laporte said in a post on X. “This attack will inflict profound hardship on working families in both countries.”

The trade union president called on Canada to “retaliate firmly and decisively.”

“Canada has been disrespected, threatened with annexation, and seen decades of friendship and alliance trampled,” Laporte said. “Canadians won’t fold.”

1:25 p.m. At Queen’s Park, NDP Leader Marit Stiles tells the Star’s Kristin Rushowy, “we have an opportunity here to work together against one of the biggest threats we’ve seen as a province, as a country.” Stiles has spoken with Ford.

“I … indicated to the premier that I really believe we have to stand united as a country, and as a province,” she said. Ford praised her and Green Leader Mike Schreiner but he has still not spoken with Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie.

“Please explain to Governor Trudeau, of Canada, that when he puts on a Retaliatory Tariff on the U.S., our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!,” Trump said. 

Poilievre, who has not committed specifically to hit the 2 per cent of GDP NATO spending target, says Canada “must secure our borders and rebuild our North,” and the military “to assert our sovereignty and strength in the world.” He says all his policies – “axing axes, building homes, unleashing construction of our resources, fixing the budget” – were “Conservative fixations before the tariffs. Now they are even more necessary.”

And he criticizes the fact that parliament is not sitting in order to do the things he recommends, including killing the “job-killing” carbon tax.

Poilievre cites his plan to hire 2,000 more border agents, and use more technology and surveillance at the border.

Poilievre shrugs off Trump’s comments that he’s not a MAGA guy, and agrees. He asserts that he knows Trump doesn’t like him, and he’s fine with that, he’s not here to be liked by Trump. “It is true that I am Canada First.”

Poilievre says there is “no doubt that our economy will suffer, but so will yours, President Trump. You’re already paying the price of trillions of dollars raised in stock market value over the last month.”

He notes that “already Americans are paying higher gas prices as at midnight, a new American gas tax kicked in.”

“Your workers will soon start losing jobs,” Poilievre continued.

Poilievre has in the past argued for dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs, and lists the order those must roll out, calling on Ottawa to first target American goods “that we can make ourselves, B) goods we don’t need, and C) goods we can get from elsewhere.” And he repeats the same demands he’s made previously, and just now in French.

Poilievre begins in French, saying Canada will retaliate and he will defend the interests of Canadian workers.

“I’ll fight to put Canada First,” he says, echoing the recent re-framed slogan that he’s used to pitch his policy promises to cut income taxes, including the carbon tax, and other measures such as expediting energy project approvals in order to diversify Canada’s economy.

Poilievre is repeating his demand that any revenues raised by Canadian counter-tariffs must be used to help workers and businesses here; that there is an immediate tax cut including his call for a GST cut on new homes, to goose the Canadian economy.

Poilievre has long argued to repeal an environmental assessment law the Trudeau government passed, that he, along with AB and SK governments, say acts as an impediment to resource developments, to mines, and other projects. “I am for pipelines,” he says.

In English, Poilievre says Donald Trump has “stabbed America’s best friend in the back. My message to the President is this, Canada will fight back.”

Ebby accused the Trump administration of shifting the goalposts during negotiations leading up to the initiation of tariffs.

“When the President raised the issue of tariffs, he said it was about fentanyl on the border,” Eby said. “I would say that without doubt, the President’s demands were met, and yet it did not matter because obviously, that’s not what this is about.”

“As the President has repeated many times, he wants to make Canada the 51st state – and Canada will never be the 51st state.”

In response, Eby announced B.C. retailers would strip all red state products from their shelves. He went on to assure constituents that their province had “resources that the world needs: cheap, clean electricity, critical minerals, lumber, agricultural products, and tourism, right here in B.C.”

“We are strong, we are tough, we are resilient, and we are exceptional, and we are ready to meet this moment,” he said. “This is a moment for us to take an attack, and turn it into a source of strength for ourselves as a province and as a country.”

Alberta premier Danielle Smith said the tariffs represent a “clear breach” of the trade agreement signed by Trump himself during his first term, calling them an “unjustifiable attack on Canadians and Albertans.”

“This policy is both foolish and a failure in every regard,” Smith wrote in a statement shared to social media. “This is not the way it should be between two of the world’s strongest trading allies and partners. “

Over the next two days, Smith said she plans to discuss Alberta’s response further with her cabinet, after which she will have “more to say.”

12:17 p.m. Chrystia Freeland, who is running to replace Justin Trudeau as prime minister and Liberal leader, is joining the chorus of political leaders slamming Trump’s tariffs, calling it “an act of self-mutilation” from the U.S.

Premier Doug Ford rips up Ontario’s $100 million satellite internet contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink. Ford also threatens 25 per cent on Ontario electricity exports to the U.S.

Premier Doug Ford warns that auto plants could be idle within 10 days due to supply disruption caused by Trump “chaos.”

Doug Ford takes aim at Elon Musk, who went to Queen’s University in Kingston. Ford says Ontario helped educate Musk and Queen’s should be “embarrassed” he was a Golden Gael.

About 1.5 million U.S. customers in Michigan, New York and Minnesota rely on Ontario electricity.

The premier also said American companies will not be able to bid on the $30 billion worth of procurement contracts the province awards each year, or bid on contracts related to his $200-billion infrastructure plan to build highways, tunnels, transit, hospitals and jails.

12 p.m. Premier Doug Ford meeting with reporters at Queen’s Park to discuss Ontario’s response. The premier was awaiting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to complete his news conference in Ottawa. Ford, Trudeau and the other first ministers will hold a virtual meeting at 2:30 p.m.

While Marcella Fiorini, a robotics teacher at a Toronto private school, said she doesn’t expect the tariffs to impact her personally, she does worry the price tag on materials she orders for her students from California could go up from the trade war.

“We’re a pretty affluent school,” she said Tuesday morning, “But a lot of the schools and other boards also buy from the U.S. and it’s going to be prohibitive.”

She wants to buy Canadian-made materials, but said it’ll be hard since “they’re not available here.”

When Jonathan Arendt, a Toronto private school teacher originally from Louisiana, told his relatives back in the U.S. that he and his immediate family would not be coming for their annual visits going forward, they didn’t understand.

“They were like, ‘Why are you going to let that stuff get in the way, dude? You’re fine, you have a job, you have money’” he said.

None of his relatives believe they’ll be impacted by the tariffs, he explained. The one exception is his brother, whose chemical plant in Louisiana has already been given notice that layoffs are imminent.

“(Tariffs) are disastrous. They’re unnecessary,” Arendt said, “But a lot of Americans are behind them right now, at least in my area, because they don’t know what’s going on.”

Business groups and union leaders across Canada blasted U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war Tuesday, calling it “self-defeating,” “shocking” and an “economic call to arms.”

Trump’s decision to go ahead with 25 per cent tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico — which kicked in Tuesday at 12:01 a.m., is a return to the 1800s, said Candace Laing, CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

“The U.S. government’s self-defeating tariff policy disregards decades of success and trillions in trade to try and revive a failed economic model from the 1800s,” said Laing in a written statement. “The U.S. can claim this policy is about hitting Canada where it hurts, but it will soon see the disastrous impacts at home in cities like Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Louisville.”

Trudeau says Canadians will continue to boycott U.S. products and maybe boo the anthem, but adds “let me tell Americans, we’re not booing you. We’re not booing your teams. We’re not booing your players.”

“We’re booing a policy that is designed to hurt us.”

11:45 a.m. Asked if he views these tariffs as an act of war against Canada, Trudeau calls it a “policy decision by the American government designed to go after the Canadian economy. This is a trade war, yes.”

In French, Trudeau says there is “unity” in the courage and determination shown by Canadians to stand together against the U.S. tariffs. He contrasts that with American families who have difficult conversations ahead of them because the harm being done to them is being done by their own president.

11:42 a.m. Trudeau didn’t give any specifics on what non-tariff measures he would back but mentioned restrictions on U.S. companies bidding on government procurement. Asked if he’d levy export tariffs on energy, uranium or potash if provinces disagree, he doesn’t specifically say. But he asserts there is unity among Canadians about the need to respond forcefully.

In the morning press conference, Trudeau is asked how long he will remain on the job. He said it will be a conversation with the next Liberal leader and that it’s a complicated time. But he expects fairly rapidly there will be a handover.

11:38 a.m. Canadian Labour Congress president Bea Bruske warned against job losses and economic pain in a statement on Tuesday and said governments across the country cannot respond with “half-measures” and “empty words.”

“This is a moment to rebuild our manufacturing, strengthen our supply chains, and create the good union jobs of tomorrow,” Bruske said. “This war will not be won on the cheap.”

Trudeau admits he’s been “holding out hope” that the tariffs were just “a clever negotiating ploy” that has already had an effect on investments here.

But says we’ll see the real impact of a trade war.

11:32 a.m. Trudeau: He talked again about banking barriers to U.S. banks, which the PM says are alive and well and prospering in Canada.

11:31 a.m. Trudeau says, in French, it’s not clear what Trump wants, whether it is to renegotiate CUSMA, but the prime minister doesn’t know what kind of negotiation we can undertake given his moves today. But it’s clear he is taking steps to ruin the Canadian economy with no factual justification.

Whether there is anything on the table immediately for workers, Trudeau refers to some measures under employment insurance and holds out that his priority is a swift end to this tariff war.

Trudeau: “We’re looking at all options” to help Canadian workers, jobs and businesses but reminds that there will be similar impacts on American jobs and businesses.

On whether fentanyl is really the problem here, Trudeau acknowledged that Trump’s own statement that there’s nothing Canada and Mexico can do to avoid tariffs and underlines “very clearly what I think a lot of us have suspected for a long time, that these tariffs are not specifically about fentanyl, even though that is the legal justification he must use to actually put forward.”

11:23 a.m. Trudeau continues to refer to the president by his first name: “I have offered to speak to Donald and I expect to speak to him in the days to come.”

Speaking directly to Canadians, Trudeau reiterated previous vows to defend jobs and protect Canadian companies and workers.

There have been few specifics on that coming aid. But Trudeau says in French that the last few months have been stressful and frankly exhausting for everyone but again pledges solidarity with Canadians affected by the trade war that’s unfolding now.

Trudeau now addresses “one specific American. Donald.” 

And he quotes the Wall Street Journal telling “Donald, this is a very dumb thing to do.”

11:13 a.m. Trudeau: “They’ve chosen to sabotage their own agenda that is supposed to usher in a new golden age for the United States. and they’ve chosen to undermine the incredible work we’ve done together to tackle the scourge that is fentanyl.”

He says it’s “totally false” for the U.S. administration to argue Canada is not an ally in that fight.

He called it a “pretext” being used by Trump’s administration. And he walks through in detail what Canada has done and is doing, including a total of $1.5 billion on border security and fighting criminal gangs involved in the drug trade.

 “So today the United States wants to trade war against Canada, their closest partners,” Trudeau said. At same time, he said they’re talking about appeasing Russia, a murderous dictatorship as if that makes sense.

The prime minister is speaking directly to Americans telling them “your government has chosen to put American jobs at risk.”

He said there are no winners in a trade war, and is striking an angrier tone than he did last month.

Trudeau is referencing how U.S. tariffs will hurt American farmers with higher prices on fertilizer supplied by Canada.

11:05 a.m. Trudeau’s statement Tuesday night said the federal government is coordinating with provinces on non-tariff measures, and has previously said everything is on the table, but we do not know how far that goes.

11:03 a.m. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh issued a call for an emergency session of Parliament in response to Trump’s tariffs on Tuesday, and reiterated his demand for a relief package that includes emergency support for workers and industries and investments in Canadian infrastructure and jobs.

Meanwhile, Green Party co-leaders Jonathan Pedneault and Elizabeth May said the tariffs are “nothing short of a declaration of economic war” on Canada and send a “clear message that the Trump administration seeks to destabilize Canada and fracture our democratic institutions.” -Mark Ramzy

11:01 a.m. Premier Doug Ford tells the Wall Street Journal he will impose a “25 per cent export tax” on Ontario electricity to New York, Michigan and Minnesota. Details to be announced later Tuesday.

It’s not only Canada that is rattled by the launch of a tariff-and-trade war with the United States.

American political and business leaders are also bracing for colder and harder times ahead as they contemplate the impact of higher prices on Canadian goods and a likely drop in exports to their largest trading partner.

Brewers, farmers, retailers, homebuilders, automakers and the commercial fishing industry could all be affected by higher prices on metals, fertilizers, wood products, gas, electricity and even lobster.

10:43 a.m. Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston will be at Queen’s Park to meet with reporters following Premier Doug Ford’s news conference. Houston is expected to outline his province’s response to the tariffs.

The market chaos sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war continued Tuesday morning.

Stock markets around the world plunged. In Toronto, the S&P TSX Composite Index plunged by 431 points, or 1.7 per cent, in 15 minutes at the start of trading. In New York, the NASDAQ, Dow Jones and S&P 500 were all down.

Auto manufacturers saw their shares drop. GM shares were down almost five per cent by 9:45 a.m., while Stellantis was off by 5.5 per cent and Ford was off by 2.3 per cent.

10:20 a.m. (updated) Justin Trudeau expected to deliver Canada’s response in wake of the tariffs. The press conference has been delayed. 

Rhonda and Will Herdman picked up a container of dates at a downtown Loblaws Tuesday morning before putting them back on the shelf when they saw “Product of USA” on the label.

“You have to look at the package so carefully,” Rhonda said, adding they’ve been trying to buy Canadian as much as possible since U.S. President Donald Trump first floated the idea of tariffs at the beginning of February.

Finding products made, or at least packaged, in Canada hasn’t been as difficult as the couple had expected.

Now that the tariffs are here, they are feeling a bit anxious about whats going to happen next, but they are willing to spend more if it means not giving “a single dollar” to the States.

“It feels like having a friend stab you in the back,” Will said.

Will added that he thinks the federal government should look for new trading partners due to the unpredictability of Trump.

“The guy is screwing over Canadians. And he’s screwing over Americans.” – Nathan Bawaan

Months of hot air and bravado have finally come to fruition: Canada is in a trade war.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on Canada, imposed Tuesday, have sent buy-Canadian intentions skyrocketing just as the stock markets and Canadian dollar plunge. Maple leaf signs line grocery store shelves and “proudly Canadian” advertisements fill the airways.

But navigating this new world can be daunting — and it’s not made any easier by how intertwined Canada’s supply chain is with the U.S.

9:55 a.m. Quebec also removing U.S. products from liquor stores.

9:52 a.m. On CNN, Premier Doug Ford warned auto plants will “shut down within 10 days” on both sides of the border.

“Unfortunately, the president has gone sideways,” Ford said. “The president needs to be stopped.”

“They’re absolutely livid,” he told CNN when asked about the state of Canadians. “We’ve stood shoulder-to-shoulder in wars.”

On retaliation, Ford said “I won’t hesitate to use every tool in our tool box.”

Whether that includes shutting off the supply of electricity Ontario sells to several border states remains to be seen.

9:52 a.m. Canada’s main stock index fell more than 300 points at the open as the U.S. imposed broad tariffs on goods coming from Canada and Mexico.

The S&P/TSX composite was down 326.69 points at 24,674.88.

9:50 a.m. Trump posted on Truth Social Tuesday morning.

“Canada doesn’t allow American Banks to do business in Canada, but their banks flood the American Market. Oh, that seems fair to me, doesn’t it?”

9:46 a.m. Premier Doug Ford has ordered the LCBO, one of the world’s largest purchasers of Kentucky bourbon and California wine, to remove American products from shelves this morning. That’s his initial response to Trump’s tariffs.

9:45 a.m. The Canadian government is opening new drug testing lab spaces in Toronto and Vancouver with a full-time team at Health Canada focused on combatting illegal precursor chemicals and drug production, fulfilling another part of Canada’s $1.3 billion border plan announced following Donald Trump’s election.

Health Canada says the expanded lab could analyze up to 2,000 illegal drug samples per year, and will work with law enforcement to trace the place and source of production of the samples.

“Tariffs are an economic weapon—and Trump just pointed it at Ontario workers. We need to fight like hell. To protect jobs. To protect industries. To make sure our economy is built to withstand this and whatever comes next. A tariff-proof economy isn’t a slogan. It’s an economic imperative. For Ontario. For Canada. For all of us.”

9:25 a.m. The premier of Nova Scotia posted on X on Tuesday morning calling Donald Trump a short-sighted man who wields his power just for the sake of it.

“It is impossible to properly describe the uncertainty and chaos that President Trump’s threat of tariffs and now actually imposing tariffs has caused for Canadians. And now, as President Trump proceeds with his illegal 25 per cent tariffs, Nova Scotia will respond,” he said on X. 

As U.S. President Donald Trump‘s 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican products (alongside 10 per cent duties on energy products) set in, Canada could be pushed into a recession and lose hundreds of thousands of jobs, some economists warn.

In return, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau enacted retaliatory tariffs on American goods as the U.S. tariffs kicked in.

8:41 a.m. Doug Ford will be speaking on tariffs at 11:30 a.m. 

8:32 a.m. Some economists are now forecasting the Bank of Canada to cut its key rate on March 12 as tariffs risk pushing Canada into a “moderate recession,” said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO, in a note to clients Tuesday morning.

“The Bank of Canada will now have its finger on the easing trigger on March 12, despite its earlier reservations about responding hastily,” said Guatieri. – Ana Pereira 

China responded to new U.S. tariffs by announcing Tuesday it will impose additional tariffs of up to 15 per cent on imports of key U.S. farm products, including chicken, pork, soy and beef, and expanded controls on doing business with key U.S. companies.

The tariffs announced by the Commerce Ministry will take effect from March 10, though goods already in transit will be exempt until April 12. They follow U.S. President Donald Trump’s order to raise tariffs on imports of Chinese products to 20% across the board. Those took effect on Tuesday, along with 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico.

8:25 a.m. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to speak around 10:30 a.m. this morning. 

He will be joined by the Minister of Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs, Dominic LeBlanc, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, and the Minister of Public Safety, David J. McGuinty. 

Check back for a livesteam and updates. 

The federal union that represents Canada’s front-line customs and immigration officers says it’s worried about staffing levels at the Canada Border Services Agency as the country responds to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.

Trump’s executive order to implement 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian products, with a lower 10 per cent levy on energy, are set to kick in Tuesday.

Despite Canada’s efforts to meet Trump’s demands to boost border security and launch a weeks-long diplomatic push by Canadian officials in Washington, Trump said Monday that the tariffs will take effect as planned.

“As the U.S. imposes tariffs, hardworking Torontonians are worried. People are concerned about their jobs and cost of food. Toronto stands united in a Team Canada approach to respond to this senseless trade action. We will get through this together,” Chow said. 

Trump’s announcement dashed hopes on Wall Street that he would choose a less painful path for global trade, and it followed the latest warning signal on the U.S. economy’s strength. Monday’s loss shaved the S&P 500’s gain since Election Day down to just over 1 per cent from a peak of more than 6 per cent. That rally had been built largely on hopes for policies from Trump that would strengthen the U.S. economy and businesses.

Trump on Monday directed a “pause” to U.S. assistance to Ukraine as he seeks to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to engage in negotiations to end the war with Russia.

President Donald Trump’s long-threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico finally went into effect Tuesday, putting global markets on edge and setting up costly retaliations by the United States’ North American allies.

Starting just past midnight, imports from Canada and Mexico are now to be taxed at 25%, with Canadian energy products getting tariffed at 10%. In addition, the 10% tariff that Trump placed on Chinese imports in February is doubling to 20%.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said Canada will respond with 25 per cent tariffs on $155 billion worth of American goods over 21 days.

Trudeau is set to hold a press conference Tuesday morning along with Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Public Safety Minister David McGuinty.

The Canada and Mexico tariffs were originally supposed to begin in February, but Trump agreed to a 30-day suspension to negotiate further with the two largest U.S. trading partners.

Ongoing tariff threats and mixed signals.

Despite weeks of lobbying in Washington by Canadian cabinet ministers and heads of the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency, Ottawa had no formal word early Monday afternoon about what would happen.

As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was en route from London back to Canada, two federal cabinet ministers said the federal government would levy counter-tariffs as promised if Trump follows through his generalized 25 per cent tariff threat against Canada and Mexico tonight.

When U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports this week, it wasn’t just a shot at Canada. He also managed to side-swipe one of his most vocal allies in the steel industry.

In November, American steel giant Cleveland Cliffs swallowed up Stelco, the pride of Hamilton and Canada’s second largest steel company, for $3.4 billion.

“People are feeling three things. I think it’s fear, I think it’s anger, and I think it’s uncertainty,” said Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter, whose city has been reeling at the thought of the U.S. president’s threats to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all imports, along with further tariffs on aluminum, steel and the auto industry itself.

Tuesday, in a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump mentioned a specific 25 per cent tariff on automotive imports, but it was unclear whether he was suggesting that would go on top of the already-threatened aluminum, steel and across-the-board tariffs.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said tariffs would be levied Tuesday against Canada and Mexico, but the levels remained to be seen.

Mike Myers shared his stance on U.S. President Donald Trump’s quips of making Canada the 51st state during an appearance on “Saturday Night Live” last night.

The comedian, who grew up in Scarborough, sported a black T-shirt adorned with a Canada flag and large white lettering reading “Canada is not for sale” during the closing scene, standing alongside the episode’s host Shane Gillis and Canadian singer-songwriter Tate McRae, who was the episode’s musical guest.

The comedian’s outfit choice follows the repeated comments from Trump about turning Canada into the 51st state while threatening to slap tariffs on Canada.

A string of tariff threats and annexation taunts from U.S. President Donald Trump isn’t getting in the way of Canadians’ love of free samples, bulk goods and $1.50 hot dogs.

Costco, the popular, membership-only, American-owned big-box retailer founded and headquartered in Washington state, seems to have emerged as an exception to many peoples’ rule to avoid American products and companies.

The call for Canadians to boycott U.S. businesses and products and to “buy Canadian” instead comes in response to Trump’s punitive trade policies and “51st state” comments that are souring the historically friendly relationship between Canada and its southern neighbour. A recent Interac survey found that eight in 10 Canadians believe supporting local businesses is important to them amid the evolving threats.

Business experts, labour leaders, industry professionals and city officials overseeing Toronto’s economic health are leading the charge in Mayor Olivia Chow’s newly-recruited brigade to combat U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs looming over Canada.

On the day of the snap provincial election triggered by the premier seeking a new mandate to deal with Trump, the 13 members of the mayor’s Economic Action Team gathered at city hall for their first meeting to come up with a game plan aimed at protecting the sectors of Toronto’s economy and jobs most at risk by the ongoing trade war.

“Hardworking Torontonians are wondering if their livelihood is going to be at stake,” Chow said. “We are stronger together. We will never give up. And we will provide a plan shortly.”

Canadian grocery giant Loblaw is ready to speed up the way it handles price increases, to make it easier for suppliers to recoup tariff costs in the event a trade war with the U.S. breaks out next week, according to a letter obtained by the Star.

Normally when a supplier wants to increase their prices, Loblaw requires 12 weeks to evaluate the request.

American President Donald Trump raised a long list of complaints against Canada and said the Canada-U.S. boundary could disappear when he spoke with the prime minister Monday, according to details Justin Trudeau revealed behind closed doors on Friday, the Star has learned.

The Star first broke news that Trudeau told a group of nearly 200 business, industry and union leaders that Trump’s statements about annexing Canada are not a joke, and are driven in part by his desire to benefit from Canada’s critical minerals.

But there was much more to Trudeau’s revelations about his high-stakes call with the U.S. president hours before punishing tariffs were set to take effect — including that Trump suggested breaking a 1908 boundary treaty, was dismissive of Canada’s contributions to NORAD, and rhymed off a litany of irritants that the White House has with Canada, according to five sources who were in the room.