Prime Minister Mark Carney will be meeting with his cabinet and Canada’s premiers to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s new threat to slap 35 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods next month.
The Prime Minister’s Office announced there will be a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to discuss ongoing Canada-U.S. trade negotiations. Carney’s office said he also will meet with the premiers on July 22 as they gather for the annual Council of the Federation conference in Huntsville, Ont.
Carney said Thursday his government will “steadfastly” defend workers and businesses. In a late-night post on social media, Carney said Canada will continue to work to secure a trade deal with the U.S. by a revised deadline of Aug. 1.
Carney says Canada has made “vital progress” to stop fentanyl across the border.
“We are committed to continuing to work with the United States to save lives and protect communities in both our countries,” he added.
Carney also pointed to several measures his government has taken to offset the negative effects of a trade war.
“The federal government, provinces and territories are making significant progress in building one Canadian economy,” he wrote. “We are poised to build a series of major new projects in the national interest. We are strengthening our trading partnerships throughout the world.”
In a letter to Carney on Thursday, Trump threatened to impose 35 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods by that date — evidently setting a new deadline for the trade talks that were supposed to wrap up by July 21.
Asked about the tariff threat while leaving the White House Friday morning, Trump told reporters that “it was sent yesterday. They called. I think it was fairly well received.”
A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister’s Office said Carney and Trump did not speak Thursday night. She said officials from both countries meet daily as trade talks continue, but Thursday’s meeting took place before Trump sent his tariff letter.
Trump wrote that if Canada works to stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States, he may consider a tariff adjustment.
Fentanyl seizures are up slightly this year at the shared border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has seized about 26 kilograms of the drug at the Canada-U.S. border to date this fiscal year, up from 19.5 kilograms last fiscal year.
That still pales in comparison to fentanyl seizures at the United States’ southern border, where U.S. border agents have seized nearly 3,700 kilograms so far this fiscal year.
The president also took aim at Canada’s dairy sector and supply management, saying American dairy farmers are charged “up to 400%” in tariffs if they “even have access to sell their products” in Canada.
In the French leaders’ debate during the spring election campaign, Carney said that supply management will “never be on the table” in trade talks with the U.S.
Trump also claimed the United States’ trade deficit with Canada is a threat to its “Economy and, indeed, (its) National Security.”
The trade deficit between the two countries is primarily driven by American imports of Canadian oil at below market value.
The letter also pointed out that Canada had responded with retaliatory tariffs against the United States after Trump first imposed the duties. Ottawa said its tariffs were targeted at things such as orange juice, motorcycles, clothing and shoes, coffee, cosmetics and alcohol.
A White House official said that the 35 per cent tariff rate is only expected to be applied to goods already hit with a 25 per cent import tax. This would exempt goods compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, plus energy and potash imports that face a 10 per cent tariff rate.
The official also said no final policy paper has been drafted, and Trump has not yet made a final decision.
Canada also faces additional U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles, as well as a U.S. plan to introduce tariffs on copper on Aug. 1.
Trump has continued to use the tariff lever to pressure countries to sign trade deals. Canada was the latest nation to receive correspondence from Trump this week outlining higher duties.
Federal Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said that at a time of uncertainty, Canada must strengthen its economic relationships with other nations.
“We are not alone in this world,” she said in Ottawa during a Friday news conference with Stéphane Séjourné, the visiting European Commission executive vice-president for prosperity and industrial strategy. “We need to be closer to our allies.”
When asked about plans for retaliation, Joly said Canada and China are the only nations that have taken such a stance so far.
“We have had already a very strong response,” Joly said
Trump’s tactics called ‘extortion’
Marty Warren, national director of the United Steelworkers, said the government needs to take “urgent measures” to keep workers employed and industries running.
The steel and aluminum sectors have been hard hit by Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on those metals, invoked under a national security rationale separate from the IEEPA tariffs.
“This is clearly about power and control. It has nothing to do with public safety or fair trade,” Warren said in a media statement.
“Canada cannot cave to blackmail. Our government must stand up for Canadian workers, enforce trade rules and protect our industries before it’s too late.”
In a post on social media, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that in the face of Trump’s latest tariff threat, “we need to come together” and develop a plan to protect Canadian workers, businesses and communities.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith discouraged Ottawa from imposing retaliatory tariffs, saying it would “constitute a tax on Canadian consumers and businesses and only weaken Canada’s economy further.”
In a post on social media, Smith said the federal government should also drop “Trudeau-era anti-resource development laws.”
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said on social media that his party supports increasing trade ties with the European Union. He also accused Carney of “failing” by focusing on investments in the oil and gas sector, which he said would only affect trade “well after Donald Trump’s departure.”
Lana Payne, national president of Unifor, said on social media there’s only one word to describe Trump’s tactics — “extortion.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called the latest tariffs an “unjustified attack on Canada’s economy.”
“Conservatives stand ready to do everything we can to secure the best deal for Canada by the July 21 deadline the Prime Minister has set,” Poilievre said in a social media post.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said in a media statement that while Trump’s tariff escalation is “concerning, it should not have much impact on Saskatchewan” because “about 95 per cent” of the province’s exports are covered by the current free trade agreement.
Ontario Conservative MP Adam Chambers sent a letter to the chair of the House of Commons international trade committee Friday afternoon asking for a meeting so MPs can discuss and debate Canada’s negotiating position.
Chambers wrote that trade-exposed businesses “deserve” a chance to tell Parliament about the “direct impacts of U.S. actions and Canadian countermeasures.”
“This is particularly urgent, as Parliament has not offered such a forum since it adjourned after a brief spring session,” Chambers wrote.
The tariffs would mean higher prices for Americans and continued damage to the “most productive trade relationship two countries have ever had,” said Candace Laing, CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
“Rather than public threats and ultimatums, the Canadian Chamber hopes to see both governments continue their ongoing talks in good faith and behind closed doors, with the aim of reaching a real and reliable economic and security relationship in the near term,” Laing said in a media statement.
The “consistent attacks” on Canada have damaged a “vital relationship,” said United States Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, adding “this action even undermined his own Administration’s negotiations to reach a trade deal.”
The Democrat from New Hampshire said she’s heard many complaints about tourists not coming from Canada and lost business due to Trump’s trade war.
“The American people and the overwhelming majority of my colleagues in Congress reject this short-sighted and costly trade war with Canada,” Shaheen said in a news release.