OTTAWA—The tariff threat tightrope drew tauter Thursday, while Britain, an erstwhile ally, threw Canada under the bus in its own rush to avoid Trump’s tariffs.
U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on his threat to slap all-encompassing tariffs on Canada next week, in a social media post and publicly, as he met with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. During the meeting, Starmer declined to stand up for Canada.
The British prime minister, asked during a joint news conference if he’d raised Trump’s repeated threats to annex Canada, or if King Charles had expressed any concern about them, Starmer said he was focused on negotiating new economic and security deals with Trump, and turned aside any concerns about Canada.
“You mentioned Canada, I think you’re trying to find a divide between us that doesn’t exist. We’re the closest of nations,” Starmer bristled.
Trump said Starmer had worked “very hard” to avoid tariffs on Britain, but the president offered him no reassurances, saying only they might reach a good trade deal.
Trump has threatened “reciprocal tariffs” against all global imports. But he’s reserved particularly punitive treatment for Canada and Mexico, and despite signals Wednesday from his officials that Trump was still open to negotiation, Trump said Thursday he had seen no progress at the northern border.
“I don’t see it at all. No, not on drugs,” Trump said when asked specifically about Canada’s border actions. A few minutes later, Trump appeared to misunderstand America’s own border statistics on fentanyl seizures, saying Canada “should be apprehending much more, they’re only apprehending 1 per cent.”
Trump then said the stronger Mexico gets on border enforcement, the more “it goes up to Canada, and a lot of drugs are coming in through Canada.”
He rejected an assertion that U.S. tariffs would paid by American importers and consumers, telling a reporter “They’re not, no, I think they’re paid for by the country.”
Just 30 minutes earlier, in Montreal, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government is “working day and night” to avoid Tuesday’s tariffs, and repeated that Canada is not a significant problem for the U.S.
“The reality is, and I’ve been saying it for months now, less than one per cent of any fentanyl entering the United States comes through Canada,” said Trudeau. “And one per cent of the irregular migrants that arrive in the United States come through Canada.”
Trudeau said nevertheless Canada will continue to reduce it even more, because even small quantities of fentanyl can be deadly, but if Trump acts, Ottawa will impose counter-tariffs on the U.S. “If on Tuesday there are unjustified tariffs brought in on Canada, we will have an immediate and extremely strong response as Canadians expect.”
Ottawa earlier this month identified counter-measures that could target $155 billion worth of American imports if Trump follows through on his threat.
Trudeau also pushed back against more talk of the U.S. making Canada a 51st state. “No way,” he said in French.
Public Safety Minister David McGuinty, flanked by newly appointed “fentanyl czar” Kevin Brosseau, and the heads of the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency, told reporters in Washington that American officials they met told them Canada is making “enormous progress” at the border, and he added it “should satisfy the American administration.”
“The evidence is irrefutable,” said McGuinty. He added that in his view Canada has met “any test” the Trump administration has required it to meet, that work would continue, but he acknowledged Canada can only “control what we can control.”
Earlier Thursday, Trump said in a Truth Social post that, “Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels.”
Trump wrote that “until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled. China will likewise be charged an additional 10% Tariff on that date. The April Second Reciprocal Tariff date will remain in full force and effect.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said a day earlier that Canada and Mexico have to “prove to the president they’ve done an excellent job” on tightening their borders in order for Trump to hold off on the threatened 25 per cent tariff with a 10 per cent duty on oil and gas, which were delayed for 30 days, until next week.
Meanwhile, Trudeau criticized NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, who a day earlier called Trump a “fascist” who should be banned from the G7 summit Canada will host in June in Alberta, saying it was easy to say “shocking” things, but “I’m not one of those Canadian politicians that thinks that’s a responsible way to lead a country or even carry an important political dialogue.”
A senior Canadian official said that while Trump’s message has been muddled, it is clear from Canada’s conversations with his administration officials that internally, they are working on the basis that Mar. 4 is about the border and fentanyl. Mar. 12 “is steel and aluminum. And then everything else is in this reciprocal tariffs,” including autos and softwood lumber.
Trump has threatened several rounds of tariffs, with different objectives, with different deadlines.
Those are:
1) 25-per-cent “across the board” tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican imports, with a lesser 10-per-cent tariff on oil and gas, possibly to take effect Mar. 4: Trump first issued this threat on social media on Nov. 25, reiterated it on Jan. 20 inauguration evening, and tied it directly to what he called a flood of fentanyl and illegal migrants pouring into America from Canada and Mexico. Canada first said it is not the same problem that Mexico is. Then Canada said it would bolster border security with a $1.3 billion plan. On Feb. 3, after Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke twice on the phone and Trudeau pledged another $200 million, Trump agreed to a 30-day delay. Mexico also won a 30-day reprieve. That ends Mar. 4.
2) 25-per-cent tariff on global steel and aluminum imports, including Canadian products, to take effect Mar. 12: Trump first teased out this threat aboard Air Force One on Feb. 9, then later signed executive orders, saying there are “no exceptions” to the tariffs to come. He later also said those would come on top of any previously threatened 25 per cent tariff, meaning Canadian steel and aluminum producers, and industries like the auto and manufacturing sectors expect it could mean a 50-per-cent stacked tariff.
3) 25-per-cent tariff on global auto imports, including Canada, to take effect April 2: Trump outlined these auto tariffs at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago saying it would apply to all auto imports on April 2, and accusing European countries — as he has Canada — of “unfair” trade practices. It is not clear if this would pile on top of his other threatened import duties, meaning a 75-per-cent stacked tariff would affect Canadian auto products sold into the U.S.
4) Unspecified “reciprocal tariffs” against all countries that sell goods to America, to take effect April 2. Trump announced on Feb. 13 these tariffs would be in retaliation for what he deems “unfair trade practices” that hurt American companies, listing among tariff and nontariff barriers things like value-added sales taxes (like Canada’s GST) that get applied to American goods sold in foreign countries, export subsidies that other nations use to support their products, and Canada and France’s imposition of a digital service tax on U.S.-based big tech companies. Trump has specifically cited auto imports, lumber, semiconductor chips, pharmaceuticals and dairy products as American industries he is targeting to bolster in the U.S. via this tariff plan.
5) Unspecified tariff to come on copper, dependent on a review due in nine months: Trump ordered a probe Tuesday into whether there should be tariffs on copper imports, using national security provisions, to rebuild U.S. production of a metal critical to electrical power grids, electric vehicles, military hardware, telecommunications and electronics products, and consumer goods. Trump ordered the report on all kinds of copper imports — raw, refined, recycled — within nine months.
On Thursday, Trudeau also rejected a suggestion that one of Trump’s advisers, Peter Navarro, wants to kick Canada out of the international “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing network, which sees Canada, the U.S., Britain, New Zealand and Australia co-operate. Trudeau defended Canada’s role and contribution to the Five Eyes” and noted Navarro denied the report.
Correction – Feb. 27, 2025
This article was edited from a previous version to note that Canada announced in December 2024 that it was investing $1.3 billion, not $1.3 million, to bolster border security.
