U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico — a 25 per cent across-the-board levy, with a lower 10 per cent charge on Canadian energy — triggering a continental trade war.
Here is the latest news (all times eastern):
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11:42 a.m.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says starting Monday the province will charge 25 per cent more for electricity shipped to 1.5 million Americans in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Ford has previously said he would also be willing to cut off Ontario's electricity supply to several U.S. states if Trump's tariffs persist.
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11 a.m.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says it's likely President Donald Trump will pause the tariffs on Canada and Mexico until April 2.
Lutnick told CNBC this morning he expects there will be an agreement today on goods that are compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement.
On Wednesday, he told Fox News that Trump was "leaning towards coming up with an idea" that allows a tariff exclusion for Canadian and Mexican markets that are in compliance with the free-trade deal.
That comment came just before the White House confirmed Trump had agreed to pause tariffs for the auto sector on vehicles made through CUSMA.
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10:04 a.m.
Andrew DiCapua, principal economist at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, says Statistics Canada's merchandise trade report demonstrates how U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff talk has shaken up trade flows — and that’s before they even hit.
DiCapua says U.S. buyers have been scrambling to stock up on Canadian goods, pushing exports higher as they rushed to beat the tariffs.
He says inventory stockpiling could backfire if the tariffs don’t last, but given the chaos, that seems unlikely.
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9:40 a.m.
Stock markets in Canada and the U.S. plunged at the start of trading, giving up the gains they made Wednesday after the U.S. said it would delay tariffs on the auto sector.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 276.57 points at 24,594.25 shortly after the start of trading at 9:30 a.m.
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.
The Canadian dollar traded for 69.68 cents US compared with 69.59 cents US on Wednesday.
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8:30 a.m.
Statistics Canada is reporting the country's merchandise trade surplus rose to $4.0 billion in January, as both exports and imports surged in the month in the face of the tariff threats.
The largest surplus since May 2022 followed a revised surplus of $1.7 billion in December. The initial reading for the final month of 2024 had been for a surplus of $708 million.
Statistics Canada says total exports increased 5.5 per cent in January to reach a record of $74.5 billion. Total imports rose 2.3 per cent to $70.5 billion.
In volume terms, total exports rose 4.5 per cent in January, while total imports gained 1.5 per cent.
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6:15 a.m.
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, 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.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said Trump is open to other carve-outs.
The temporary reprieve for autos came a day after the U.S. imposed sweeping levies on Canadian and Mexican goods.
