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.
Canada has responded with 25 per cent retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion worth of American products, and will expand them to cover another $125 billion in U.S. goods in 21 days.
Here is the latest news (all times eastern):
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11:45 a.m.
Bob Rae, Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, says U.S. President Donald Trump sees the world in a “totally binary way.”
Rae says Trump believes that “what’s good for me is bad for you, what’s good for you is bad for me.”
Rae says it’s a win-lose proposition and a terrible mistake, adding protectionist policies hurt global trade.
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11:30 a.m.
A group of 52 associations representing the entire three-tier chain of the U.S. alcohol industry is urging U.S. President Donald Trump to lift tariffs on Mexican and Canadian distilled spirits and wine.
The Toasts Not Tariffs Coalition says it is greatly troubled that U.S. alcohol products are being removed from Canadian stores.
It says American wines and spirits have benefitted from fair and reciprocal trade with Canada and Mexico and the duties will cause great harm to U.S. companies and employees.
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11:10 a.m.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet says he does not believe U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to annex Canada by imposing tariffs.
"That's one of his fantasies and he might sometimes believe himself, I'm not his psychiatrist, but it's just not even possible. It cannot happen," he said at a press conference on Parliament Hill.
Blanchet says that while repeating something that will not happen just spreads fear, there are real threats "from this weird man" that Canada and Quebec must face.
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11:00 a.m.
Peter Navarro, a senior trade adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, said he watched Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Tuesday press conference about tariffs.
Navarro told CNN Wednesday it would be really useful if Trudeau "toned stuff down."
Navarro would not speak about any compromise that could be made to lift the tariffs or the likelihood of a phone call between Trudeau and Trump today.
Navarro argued that Trump's tariffs are about stopping the flow of fentanyl. Canadian officials have said repeatedly that it's clear to them the tariffs were not imposed in response to drug trafficking.
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10:30 a.m.
In a press conference on Parliament Hill, NDP MP Charlie Angus praised Canadians who have been boycotting U.S. products and travel and buying Canadian instead.
“Now that might not seem like a big deal, but these are the decisions being made at kitchen tables across our nation to stand with Canada or to give in."
He said Trump can do his worst and Canadians will do their best.
“We are true north, strong, free, and it's elbows up time,” he said. “Canada will never bend. We will never kiss the gangster's ring.”
Angus also took aim at Trump’s attacks on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump’s friendliness with Russia.
“This is how the great American century ends. It's not with a bang or with a whimper. It's like some kind of tacky roadshow from the World Wrestling Federation,” Angus said.
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9:10 a.m.
Canada's industry minister says he is looking to block what he calls "predatory investment behaviour" during the trade war with the United States.
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: the prospective investment's effects on Canada's economic security.
This will allow Canada to reject foreign investments that could harm the Canadian economy or workers, he says.
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8:20 a.m.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in an interview on Bloomberg TV that he expects U.S. President Donald Trump will make an announcement on the tariffs 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 some categories of goods could be exempted.
Lutnick said some sectors could be left out of tariffs — including the auto sector — if they comply with the rules under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that was negotiated in Trump's first term.
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6:30 a.m.
Stock markets in the U.S. were set to bounce back after U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick seemed to suggest some sort of compromise is in the works on tariffs.
The futures market pointed to a positive open for U.S. stock markets, a day after they posted broad losses.
Lutnick told Fox Business after the close of trading Tuesday that Trump may amend the tariffs, though it's not clear what he's considering.
"None of that pause stuff — but I think he's going to figure out, 'You do more and I'll meet you in the middle some way,'" Lutnick said.
