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OTTAWA \u2014 Prime Minister Mark Carney will be meeting with his cabinet and Canada\u2019s premiers to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s new threat to slap 35 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods next month.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister\u2019s Office announced there will be a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to discuss ongoing Canada-U.S. trade negotiations. Carney\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Carney said Thursday his government will \u201csteadfastly\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
In a letter to Carney on Thursday, Trump threatened to impose 35 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods by that date \u2014 evidently setting a new deadline for the trade talks that were supposed to wrap up by July 21.<\/p>\n
Asked about the tariff threat while leaving the White House Friday morning, Trump told reporters that \u201cit was sent yesterday. They called. I think it was fairly well received.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister\u2019s Office said Carney and Trump did not speak Thursday night. She said that while officials from both countries meet daily as trade talks continue, Thursday\u2019s meeting took place before Trump sent his tariff letter.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s letter said if Canada works to stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States, he may consider a tariff adjustment.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
That still pales in comparison to fentanyl seizures at the United States\u2019 southern border, where U.S. border agents have seized nearly 3,700 kilograms so far this fiscal year.<\/p>\n
A White House official said 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.<\/p>\n
The official said no final policy paper has been drafted and Trump has not yet made a final decision.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In a post on social media, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that in the face of Trump\u2019s latest tariff threat, \u201cwe need to come together\u201d and develop a plan to protect Canadian workers, business and communities.<\/p>\n
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith discouraged Ottawa from imposing retaliatory tariffs, saying it would \u201cconstitute a tax on Canadian consumers and businesses and only weaken Canada\u2019s economy further.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a post on social media, Smith said the federal government should also drop \u201cTrudeau-era anti-resource development laws.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois Leader Yves-Fran\u00e7ois Blanchet said on social media that his party supports increasing trade ties with the European Union. He also accused Carney of \u201cfailing\u201d by focusing on investments in the oil and gas sector, which he said would only affect trade \u201cwell after Donald Trump\u2019s departure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lana Payne, national president of Unifor, said on social media there\u2019s only one word to describe Trump\u2019s tactics \u2014 \u201cextortion.\u201d Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called the latest tariff threat an \u201cunjustified attack on Canada\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tariffs would mean higher prices for Americans and continued damage to the \u201cmost productive trade relationship two countries have ever had,\u201d said Candace Laing, CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather 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,\u201d Laing said in a media statement.<\/p>\n
The \u201cconsistent attacks\u201d on Canada have damaged a \u201cvital relationship,\u201d said United States Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, adding \u201cthis action even undermined his own Administration\u2019s negotiations to reach a trade deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Democrat from New Hampshire said she\u2019s heard many complaints about tourists not coming from Canada and lost business due to Trump\u2019s trade war.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe American people and the overwhelming majority of my colleagues in Congress reject this short-sighted and costly trade war with Canada,\u201d Shaheen said in a news release.<\/p>\n
\u00a92025 The Canadian Press<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n