U.S. tariffs on Canadian dairy and lumber may not arrive until next month, according to interviews President Donald Trump and his top commerce official gave to media outlets this weekend.
Trump threatened Friday he may hit Canadian lumber and dairy with “reciprocal” tariffs, which he said could come within days.
But U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that the tariffs on Canadian dairy and lumber will wait until April.
Lutnick said 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will take effect Wednesday as scheduled, which the White House has said would stack on top of the other duties imposed on Canada.
Trump, meanwhile, said in a taped interview with Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that his plans for broader “reciprocal” tariffs will go into effect April 2, although it wasn’t clear if he was including dairy and lumber.
When Trump announced his intention to tariff dairy, he complained Canadian dairy tariffs were up to 250 per cent, without providing context on how dairy duties actually work or noting that the U.S. also has industry-related tariffs of its own.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2025.
