The Trump administration imposed so-called “reciprocal” tariffs on numerous countries, but Canada was not targeted. However, previously-announced auto tariffs went into effect at midnight. And levies on steel, aluminum and goods that aren’t compliant with the existing North American trade deal remain in place. Follow along Thursday for live updates and analysis from the Star’s newsroom.
12:44 p.m. Thousands of job losses expected
Jim Stanford, chief economist at the Centre for Future Work, said the shutdowns at Stellantis plants in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are just the beginning of much broader pain in the North American auto sector.
“We will see tens of thousands of job losses and we’ll see them shockingly quickly,” said Stanford. “This is an economic disaster and most infuriating aspect is that there is absolutely no reason for it to occur.”
—Josh Rubin
12:19 p.m. Recession may be unavoidable
Finally, Carney concludes that it may be impossible to avoid a recession because Trump’s tariffs are likely to have a recessionary impact in the U.S. where “inflation is starting to pick up and financial conditions are going to start to tighten.”
“When the United States has a recession, it’s very difficult for Canada to avoid something similar,” he said, adding there were “exceptions” to that, for example, with the financial crisis in 2008 “when I was governor” of the Bank of Canada, “we avoided a recession.”
That’s the end of the Carney news conference. He now is going to return to the campaign trail. But let’s face it, that comment at the end was part of his campaign pitch to Canadians.
Later tonight, a big challenge is coming up for the political leaders, especially Carney, as Radio-Canada hosts a two-hour news special for the election. Each leader in succession will face a panel of three hosts, in French, on a range of topics. It is not so much a debate as a style of televised editorial board meeting.
The “5 leaders” does not include PPC Maxime Bernier. It’s Liberal, Conservative, BQ, NDP and Green leaders only.
—Tonda MacCharles
12:17 p.m. Military, security relationship with U.S. remains important
Carney is clarifying his prior statement that the relationship with the U.S. is “over.” He says he was referring primarily to the idea of an increasingly close economic and trading relationship, which he sees now — in light of the tariffs — as being too risky for the overall economy. He says the military and security relationship with the United States remains the most important, though he adds that Canada needs to strengthen ties with other allies.
—Alex Ballingall
12:12 p.m. Canada-U.S. relationship needs ‘reset’
Carney describes the kind of re-negotiation he wants to have with Trump as not just a re-negotiated Canada-U.S.-Mexico deal, which he does want to open, but one that re-defines the defence-security relationship with the U.S. and the Canada-U.S. commercial ties within defence procurement. He says the U.S. is “absolutely” still our ally in security and defence partnerships.
It’s striking that he says given the “scale and ambition” of Trump’s tariffs vis-a-vis Canada and the whole world, the overall relationship needs to be “reset.”
What that means is a bit unclear when it comes to the defence relationship with the U.S. We’ve already heard Carney talk about looking to Paris and London to deepen ties there. He says, however, he is not declaring an end to the bilateral defence ties, or Norad.
But he underscores the need to diversify defence procurement.
—Tonda MacCharles
12:01 p.m. ‘Best deal of a series of tough deals’
Carney says we have “the best deal of a series of tough deals, bad deals” that Trump announced, saying the relationship must be redefined.
Carney says there are talks but no international coordinated counter-tariffs.
Carney says he has advised other party leaders of Canada’s response to Trump tariffs today.
Carney says the conversation with premiers was “fantastic” and they are all aligned on today’s response.
—Tonda MacCharles
11:57 a.m. ‘Canada can grow stronger’
Carney appeared to get emotional when speaking of the Canadian school student who said they didn’t want to grow up as an American.
“So to those kids at Glenwilliam Public School don’t worry,” he says, promising Canada can grow stronger.
—Tonda MacCharles
11:49 a.m. Carney to seek deeper trade ties to other allies
Mark Carney says he is rolling out these counter-tariffs “reluctantly” but notes Trump’s other threats against pharmaceuticals, semiconductor chips, lumber and agricultural sectors.
Carney repeats that he will seek deeper trade ties with other allies, a commitment he has made since taking office as PM, but it may be easier said than done. Carney has previously admitted countries are looking after their own national interests.
Carney says the task in the coming weeks and months is to “think bigger and act bigger.”
“We are powerful when we act together.”
He doesn’t explicitly call for boycotts of U.S. travel or products but hails Canadians who are buying Canadian.
—Tonda MacCharles
11:46 a.m. Carney laments deterioration of relationship with U.S. as ‘tragedy’
Mark Carney reminds people the steel and aluminum tariffs of Trump’s first term led to lost jobs, and says the current tariffs violate the CUSMA that Trump himself signed.
Carney said while yesterday’s baseline universal tariff did not specifically target Canada, it has upended the system of global trade that Canada has relied on since the end of the Second World War. And he echoes his statement last week that the “old relationship of steadily deepening integration with the United States … is over.”
He calls it “a tragedy but it is also the new reality,” and says Canada has to respond with purpose and force, reprising many of the points he’s made since the election campaign launched.
Canada is fighting the trade actions in court, and under CUSMA, and describes his announcement as “carefully calibrated.”
Carney says all vehicles imported from the U.S. that are not compliant with CUSMA (which sets out North American content rules, not solely U.S.-made content rules) will be hit with matching counter-tariffs.
—Tonda MacCharles
11:40 a.m. Ford expresses support for retaliatory measures
At Queen’s Park, Premier Doug Ford expressed his backing for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s retaliatory measures. “It’s a fair response. I appreciate all the support across the country, and it’s every premier — there’s no exclusions. I’m glad to see the support of premiers out in the West as well,” he said. “I think it’s a measured response, and that’s what we need to do.”
—Robert Benzie
11:38 a.m. Carney calls impact ‘monumental’
Carney is calling the impact of U.S. tariffs “monumental” and calls the threats “unjustified, unwarranted, and in our judgement misguided.” He deplores the immediate impacts on auto plants here: 3,600 workers in Windsor who are now out of work.
Carney is re-capping what Canada has already done to address the U.S. border concerns that President Donald Trump has expressed, noting the U.S. annual report on threats didn’t mention Canada, and noting the Republican senators who broke ranks last night to support a Democratic-sponsored resolution in the senate against the use of emergency tariffs against Canada.
—Tonda MacCharles
11:36 p.m. Poilievre says he no longer believes in U.S. trading partnership
Poilievre says he no longer believes that the United States is a viable trading partner. “I don’t consider the Americans to be a reliable trading partner right now. Their president has chosen to betray America’s best friend and closest ally. I am saddened to say that because I love the American people, but there’s no denying that there is a president right now who consistently betrays the Canadian people and shows that he has been unreliable to deal with.”
—Alex Ballingall
11:35 a.m. Canada to impose tariffs on American-made cars
Prime Minister Mark Carney is announcing that Canada will respond to Trump’s auto tariffs by putting Canadian auto tariffs on American cars imported into Canada. He said Canada is “matching the U.S. approach with 25 per cent tariffs on all vehicles imported from the United States that are not compliant with CUSMA, our North American free trade agreement.”
He said that it will apply to the non-Canadian content of CUSMA-compliant vehicles from the United States.
“Our tariffs will not affect auto parts because we know the benefits of our integrated production system,” Carney said, adding “they will not affect vehicle content from Mexico.”
Carney said the federal government is developing a “framework” for auto producers to avoid Canadian counter tariffs “as long as they maintain their production and investment in Canada.”
Carney vowed that all revenue raised via Canadian counter-tariffs, estimated at “about $8 billion before remission” will go directly to Canadian auto workers and the companies affected by these tariffs.
Carney flags that he has already announced a campaign pledge to create a $2 billion fund to build a new “Made-in-Canada auto sector … should we be elected.”
—Tonda MacCharles
11:32 a.m. Labour expert says auto parts section will be the most affected
Stephanie Ross, of McMaster University’s School of Labour Studies, said “the auto parts sector is probably the one that’s going to be the most affected,” noting a tool-and-die plant in Windsor had already started moving equipment out to the U.S. — though local Unifor workers blockaded the plant to prevent that.
“We’ll see if whether or not that spreads, because I do think that Unifor, in particular, is in a very fighting mood,” she said. “ All the signals are there that they are preparing to use those forms of direct action to try and prevent the stripping of plants here in Canada, while also working very closely with the political leadership in Ontario and Canada to try to negotiate policy solutions.”
Ross said the impact of tariffs “will be greater in certain parts of the country than others because of the different industries that are located in different places —places like Windsor and Hamilton may see more of an immediate impact than other places that are not as directly reliant on the particular industries that are targeted by the tariffs. And these are already communities that have struggled for the last 40 years with de-industrialization.”
-Kristin Rushowy
11:27 a.m. Poilievre on why he’s the best antidote to Trump
In pitching himself as the best antidote to Trump, Poilievre is painting a picture of a “lost Liberal decade” that left Canada’s economy weak. He’s also contrasting himself with Liberal Leader Mark Carney, arguing that a Conservative government would get major resource projects built faster. Poilievre points to his promise to dismantle the national requirement for a minimum carbon price on heavy industry, and to repeal the Impact Assessment Act that Conservatives blame for holding back development of fossil fuel pipelines.
-Alex Ballingall
11:25 a.m. How Poilievre’s potential CUSMA renegotiation differs from other leaders
Poilievre is re-capping his speech from yesterday which outlines his demand to renegotiate the CUSMA deal and his “red lines” for those talks.
Insofar as he says he wants to re-negotiate CUSMA, Poilievre differs from the NDP, but also from Carney’s Liberals, because the Liberal leader says he wants a new comprehensive economic and security deal, and that they must go hand in hand. Poilievre said that he would plow the revenue from any new trade deal into the Canadian military to meet Canada’s NATO spending commitment of 2 per cent of GDP.
-Tonda MacCharles
11:21 a.m. Democrats warn that Trump’s tariffs could result in a recession
Democrats are blaming Trump for plunging financial markets and calling on him to rescind his tariffs.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, said the tariffs amount to the biggest tax hike on families since World War II.
11:20 a.m. U.S. prices for some furniture could nearly double, trade association says
The Home Furnishings Association, which represents more than 13,000 U.S. furniture stores, predicted that the tariffs will increase prices between 10% and 46%. Vietnam and China are the top furniture exporter to the U.S.
The association said manufacturers in Asia are offsetting some of the costs by discounting their products and lowering ocean freight rates. But it still expects U.S. furniture prices to rise. Even domestically made furniture often relies on imported components, the association said.
11:14 a.m. Poilievre says he would repeal GST on Canadian-made vehicles
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is in Kingston, appearing behind the same Maple Leaf-style lectern he used for his Trump-themed speech yesterday. He name drops Ontario cities where auto workers are based, and announces the Conservatives would repeal the GST on Canadian-made automobiles.
“I’m calling on the premiers to match our policy,” he says. “This will have the double effect of supporting workers in the auto-sector and also tackling the Liberal inflation crisis,” he adds.
Expressing solidarity with worried Canadians, Poilievre said “President Trump once again attacked our country and our jobs.” He says: “I’m here to reassure Canadians that, united, we will get through this together.” He pledges to support workers, repeating an earlier promise to create a loan program to help businesses keep employees on their payrolls.
-Alex Ballingall
11:11 a.m. Poilievre changes his stance
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says that “until yesterday many Canadians me included” held out hope Trump would not do the thing he threatened: impose unjustified tariffs on Canada.
This is a change of stance from Poilievre.
-Tonda MacCharles
11:06 a.m. Trump tariffs throw stock market in chaos
Stock markets around the world plunged Thursday as traders digested the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s global expansion of his trade war.
By 10:30 a.m., trillions of dollars in value had been wiped out, as major stock indices — including the S&P TSX Composite Index — fell.
The S&P TSX Composite index was down just under three per cent, wiping out more than $100 billion in stock value from Canada’s main stock index. In New York, the S&P 500 was down more than four per cent, wiping out more than $1.6 trillion (U.S.) in value.
Read the developing story from Josh Rubin
10:58 a.m. Ford speaks after meeting with Carney, other premiers
At Queen’s Park, Premier Doug Ford said the provincial and territorial leaders are united in a “Team Canada” response to Trump’s gambit.
“We all agreed that we got the best of a bad deal, which, in my opinion, is still totally unacceptable. The only thing that’s acceptable is zero tariffs,” said Ford after a 30-minute first ministers’ meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The premier expressed surprise at the speed at which layoffs hit auto factories on both sides of the border. “I thought it would (take) about a week, but obviously it’s right down to days now on the supply chain, and I’ve been saying this over and over again, a tariff on Canada is a tax on Americans. I mentioned Termination Day. There’s a perfect example.”
10:57 a.m. Green leader says Canada should seize opportunity to revive manufacturing
In Montreal, Green co-leader Jonathan Pedneault says the trade war with the U.S. should be a “turning point” where Canada seizes the opportunity to revive manufacturing, which he says was hollowed out by decades of bad trade deals and corporate lobbying. He is calling for Canada to strive to build things like electric vehicles, and batteries that use Canadian lithium and cobalt. “It’s time for us to build our own path forward,” he said.
-Alex Ballingall
10:44 a.m. Stellantis layoffs 900 U.S. workers
In fallout from the temporary shutdowns of its Windsor assembly plant and several Mexican plants, auto giant Stellantis announced layoffs of 900 U.S. workers at several powertrain and stamping plants in Michigan and Indiana.
“Stellantis continues to assess the effects of the recently announced U.S. tariffs on imported vehicles and will continue to engage with the U.S. tariffs on these policy changes,” the company said in a statement Thursday. The plants impacted are the Warren and Sterling stamping plants in the Detroit area and the Indiana transmission plant, and the transmission and stamping plants in Kokomo, Ind.
The Windsor assembly plants will be idled the weeks of April 7 and 14 and is slated to resume production the week of April 21.
-Robert Ferguson
10:06 a.m. Doug Ford says ‘we have to respond’
On his way into his office to join the online First Ministers’ Meeting on U.S. tariffs, Premier Doug Ford stopped to talk to reporters. “In my opinion we have to respond,” he said. “Let’s pray it’s only a couple of weeks.” His comments follow an announcement by automaker Stellantis to shut down its massive Windsor assembly plant for two weeks starting Monday.
-Robert Ferguson
9:54 a.m. Singh said there’s no justification to renegotiate CUSMA
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh says there is no justification to renegotiate the CUSMA, or Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade deal, which Trump himself negotiated, and is not open for re-negotiation, but for review, next year in 2026.
Singh says Canada should stand “in solidarity” with Mexico against the Trump tariffs. “We are in a similar position where we’ve been attacked for no justification, for no reason,” he said.
-Tonda MacCharles
9:52 a.m. NDP leader calls for Victory Bonds
In Ottawa this morning, with the National War Memorial as his backdrop, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling for Victory Bonds that people could buy with guaranteed interest rates to those who invest with tax-free revenue. He’s contrasting that plan, which would bring money into the government, with the cuts he says will come from a Liberal or Conservative government. “We are in a type of war right now, in a trade war, and the threat of Donald Trump has made Canadians say ‘What can I do?’” Singh says. “This is a way for Canadians to contribute.” He compares the situation to the Second World War, when Canadians purchased victory bonds from the government to help the effort.
-Alex Ballingall
9:48 a.m. Stock markets also down in Canada
The S&P/TSX composite index sank more than 700 points at the start of trading as investors react to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement.
9:44 a.m. U.S. stock markets tumble
U.S. stock markets from the Nasdaq composite index to the Dow Jones Industrial average tumbled after opening Thursday following President Donald Trump’s tariff blow against America’s global trading partners who vowed they would respond.
The S&P 500 was down 3.4 per cent in the first 40 minutes, the Dow down 2.5 per cent, the Nasdaq 100 down 3.6 per cent.
Trump levied a baseline tariff of 10 per cent on 185 countries and territories across the globe, against European countries, the UK, and Asia, and jacked up the import taxes based on a determination of how big the U.S. trade imbalance is with specific countries.
Canada and Mexico did not immediately get hit with the baseline 10 per cent, but 25 per cent auto tariffs and 25 per cent steel and aluminum tariffs are in effect against the U.S.’s closest neighbours and most important trading allies.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to address how Canada will respond at an 11:30 news conference.
-Tonda MacCharles
9:43 a.m. Bloc Québécois leader responds to tariffs
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet speaking now in Québec City. He says he thinks yesterday’s Trump announcement means the rest of the campaign can proceed in a bit more of a “normal” way, in the sense that the tariff situation and uncertainty about what Trump was going to do was largely answered yesterday. Recognizing the “enormous” threats of American tariffs, Blanchet says there are other issues on the campaign, like the environment, that should be discussed as well.
He is asking for a Québec delegation to be a formal part of Canada’s negotiation team with the Trump administration after the election, with representatives chosen by the Québec government. He says there shouldn’t be a deal without Québec.
He also wants the government to adopt a policy to mirror “Buy American,” and take efforts to diversify markets, among other demands. He says the Bloc supports dollar-for-dollar countertariffs, with exceptions for essential goods that can only be sourced from the US. He also wants the government to protect the supply management system for the dairy sector, which Trump raised yesterday as trade barrier the Americans don’t like.
-Alex Ballingall
9:38 a.m. JD Vance urges Americans to be patient as markets slide
The vice president appeared on Fox & Friends, saying it will take some time for Trump’s tariffs, spending cuts and support for U.S. industries to help everyday Americans. “We are not going to fix things overnight,” Vance said.
“Frankly, a lot of people have gotten rich from American jobs moving overseas,” Vance said. “But American workers have not gotten rich. And frankly, American companies have not gotten wealthy from the increasing growth of foreign competitors manufacturing overseas.”
“We know people are struggling. We’re fighting as quickly as we can to fix what was left to us, but it’s not going to happen immediately. But we really do believe that if we pursue the right deregulation, we pursue those energy cost reducing policies — Yes, people are going to see it in their pocketbook. They’re also going to benefit from the fact that foreign countries can’t take advantage of us anymore.”
9:32 a.m. China will “do what is necessary” to respond to tariffs
China foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun condemned the U.S. trade actions today, and said “trade wars and tariff wars have no winners, and protectionism will lead nowhere.”
He did not specifically outline retaliatory moves, but said China “will do what is necessary to defend our legitimate rights and interests.”
“It is clear that more and more countries have come to stand against the U.S.’s tariff hikes and other unilateral bullying moves,” said Guo.
The spokesman was not asked to respond to Trump listing Taiwan as a country on his list for reciprocal tariffs – Taiwan got 32 per cent – although he railed against Japan, saying China has a right to conduct whatever military exercises near Taiwan it wants to.
-Tonda MacCharles
8:40 a.m. Futures market points to big drop for U.S. stocks when trading starts
The futures market pointed to a big drop for U.S. stock markets when trading begins today.
The move comes after U.S. President Donald Trump announced so-called “reciprocal tariffs” hitting just about every country around the world.
Stock markets in Canada and the U.S. open for trading at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Why China sees an opening in Donald Trump’s global tariff war
The world is reacting with disbelief and no shortage of panic to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
“A catastrophe of an unfathomable magnitude,” said France’s cognac makers, who will contend with new 20 per cent duties.
Stock markets slid on the threat of a crystallizing global trade war and economic slowdown.
Read the full story from the Star’s Allan Woods
Donald Trump hits Canada with 25 per cent auto tariffs and threats remain
Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to fight back against Donald Trump’s latest raft of trade tariffs, declaring Wednesday night that the U.S. president’s “Liberation Day” measures would drastically alter the global economy even if they spared Canada from the heaviest blows.
Though Trump’s new “reciprocal” tariffs targeted mostly countries in Europe, Asia and elsewhere around the world, Canadian auto imports into the United States were set to be hit with punishing 25-per-cent tariffs set to kick in after midnight Thursday morning.
The White House also decided to keep existing tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, and maintain tariffs — justified under Trump’s alleged border emergency — against Canadian goods that aren’t compliant with the existing North American trade deal that sets rules about limiting foreign content. Under that order, non-compliant goods were hit with 25-per-cent import taxes and non-compliant energy and potash with 10-per-cent tariffs.
But Carney suggested that the status quo is no relief, especially with American measures rollicking the international trading system. He said the Americans have also “signalled” there will be new tariffs in “so-called strategic sectors” like pharmaceuticals, lumber and semi-conductors.
“The series of measures will directly affect millions of Canadians,” Carney said.
“We’re going to fight these tariffs with countermeasures. We are going to protect our workers, and we are going to build the strongest economy in the G7.”
Read the full story from Tonda MacCharles, Josh Rubin and Alex Ballingall
Senate rebukes Trump’s tariffs as some Republicans vote to halt taxes on Canadian imports
The Senate passed a resolution Wednesday night that would thwart President Donald Trump’s ability to impose tariffs on Canada, delivering him a rare rebuke just hours after the president unveiled sweeping plans to clamp down on international trade.
The Senate resolution, passed by a 51-48 vote tally, would end Trump’s emergency declaration on fentanyl that underpins tariffs on Canada. Trump earlier Wednesday announced orders — his so-called “Liberation Day” — to impose import taxes on a slew of international trading partners, though Canadian imports for now were spared from new taxes.
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