Donald Trump said he is moving immediately to jack up tariffs to 50 per cent on all Canadian steel and aluminum, to take effect Wednesday, in retaliation for Premier Doug Ford’s move on a surcharge on electricity exports to American states. Follow the Star’s live updates on Tuesday.
(Updated) 3:55 p.m. Trump says Ford move to cut electricity tax welcome
Standing next to Elon Musk as the president said he bought a Tesla, Trump told reporters on Tuesday that Ford’s move was welcome. “Already Canada — and I respect very much — as you know, there’s a very strong man in Canada who said he was going to charge a surcharge or a tariff on electricity coming into our country. He has called and he said he’s not going to do that. Not going to do and it would have been a very bad thing. And he’s not going to do this I respect that.”
Trump reiterated that he believed Canada, Mexico and “every country in the world” treats the U.S. “very unfairly.”
Trump said Ford was “a gentleman” and he would “probably” relax tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
But he offered no specific rate he’d apply, before going on to list his now-familiar list of grievances against Canada, and saying again “Canada would be great as our cherished 51st state.”
Trump said “I’ll let you know about it,” when asked specifically if he would levy the 50 per cent tariff on Canadian metals that he had threatened earlier Tuesday in his Truth Social post.
Trump, in speaking about the border, again called the boundary between Canada and Mexico just an artificial line: “By the way, when you take away that artificial line that looks like it was done with a ruler – and that’s what it was: some guy sat there years ago and they said, ‘brrrah’. Well, when you take away that, and you look at that beautiful formation of Canada and the United States, there is no place anywhere on in the world that looks like that.”
3:47 p.m. Trump alludes to possibility of reversing 50% tariff on steel, aluminum
U.S. President Donald Trump dangled the possibility of reversing his 50 per cent tariff threat on Canadian steel and aluminum after Ontario suspended its 25 per cent electricity export tax and Trump’s top trade advisors agreed to a high-stakes meeting in Washington with Premier Doug Ford and Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc.
“It’s called an olive branch,” Ford said. “When you’re negotiating with someone, they call you and they hand over an olive branch. The worst thing I think I could do as premier of Ontario is ignore them and hang up the phone on them. I don’t operate that way,” he said.
(Updated) 2:45 p.m. Ontario Premier Doug Ford to suspend electricity tax
Premier Doug Ford suspended Ontario’s 25 per cent electricity export tax after Donald Trump’s key advisors on tariffs agreed to meet in Washington Thursday and talk through the ongoing trade war and a “renewed” Canada-U.S.-Mexico deal.
Ford denied he was caving into the U.S. president’s threat earlier Tuesday to jack up tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50 per cent. “We don’t roll over to anyone,” Ford told reporters, but he said it was about letting “cooler heads prevail” and allowing space for discussions.
The truce in the war of words came, Ford said on X, after he had “a productive conversation about the economic relationship between the United States and Canada” with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
They will meet with Trump’s United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer “to discuss a renewed” Canada-U.S.-Mexico deal before the April 2 deadline Trump has laid out for bigger “reciprocal” commercial tariffs.
2:35 p.m. White House defends Trump’s tariff tactics
Trump’s White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt dismissed stock market reaction to Trump’s escalating tariff threat against Canada, saying the numbers “are a snapshot of a moment of time,” saying that it is simply a short-term reflection of the fact that “we are in a period of economic transition” from what she called a nightmare under the previous administration.
Under repeated questioning about the impact of tariffs, Leavitt insisted that Trump’s aggressive tariff policy will ensure that he fulfills his promise to bring back jobs to America.
Leavitt said there is “continued correspondence” with Canadian officials, mentioning Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, but Trump has not spoken to Mark Carney, the incoming Canadian prime minister.
“Certainly, his phone is always open to leaders who wish to speak with him,” Leavitt said.
When asked if the Trump Administration still considered Canada “a close ally,” Leavitt stopped short of accepting that the two countries remain close allies, and repeated the president’s 51st state wish.
“I think Canada is a neighbor. They are a partner. They have always been an ally. Perhaps they are becoming a competitor now.”
“But as the President also laid out in his Truth Social post today, he believes that Canadians would benefit greatly from becoming the 51st State of the United States of America.”
Leavitt said she looked at statistics on the cost of living in Canada and called it “much higher” than in the U.S.
“So the President has made it clear that he believes Canadians would be better served economically, militarily, if they were to become the 51st State of the United States of America.”
She defended Trump’s latest tariff threat to impose a 50 per cent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum as a retaliation against Ford’s electricity charges, and said it is Canada that is acting in an egregious fashion. She cited Canadian tariffs on American butter and milk products, among other countries’ tariffs to which Trump objects.
“The President is, again, responding to the fact that Canada has been ripping off the United States of America in hard working Americans for decades, if you look at the rates of tariffs across the board that Canadians have been imposing.”
Asked whether Trump will provide any relief to states affected by the Ontario power tariff, Leavitt said the president “has made it very clear that Canada would be very wise not to shut off electricity for the American people, and we hope that that does not happen.”
Leavitt rejected questions about whether Americans are losing confidence in Trump over his tariff policy, and when asked how far he would let stock markets fall, she said “he will look out for Wall Street and for Main Street, just like he did in his first term.”
She rejected any assertion that Trump’s tariffs are a tax hike on Americans who import products. “He’s actually not implementing tax hikes. Tariffs are a tax hike on foreign countries that again, have been ripping us off. Tariffs are a tax cut for the American people, and the President is a staunch advocate of tax cuts, as you know.”
When challenged if she’d ever paid a tariff, Leavitt called it an “insulting” question and said she regretted offering the Associated Press a question.
2:30 p.m. Sault Ste. Marie-based Algoma Steel begins layoffs in wake of Trump tariff threats
The layoffs have already begun.
Sault Ste. Marie-based Algoma Steel has laid off 20 employees as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to impose import tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, and union officials warn more cuts could be coming across the industry.
The layoffs came before Trump’s announcement Tuesday that he’d be doubling the threatened tariffs to 50 per cent, beginning Wednesday, Algoma spokesperson Laura Devoni confirmed in an email.
“Related to the tariffs we have had approximately 20 layoffs to date,” Devoni said.
Read more from the Star’s Josh Rubin
1:42 p.m. Leavitt says there is “continued correspondence” between Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “and the Canadian team.” Ford was to speak with him. There is no word yet if Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc has spoken with him.
1:41 p.m. White House rails against Premier Doug Ford’s “egregious and insulting” decision to slap 25 per cent tariffs on electricity. President Donald Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt is railing against Ontario’s move.
1:32 p.m. Candace Laing, head of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, called Trump’s announcement “incredibly destructive,” adding the “stock market volatility is a glaring signal that this economic chaos must end.”
She said Canadian steel and aluminum “aren’t a nice to have for the U.S., they’re a need to have.”
“These two Canadian metals are the infrastructure that holds up and holds together American defence, homes, cars, energy and countless other symbols of security and strength.
“Without Canadian steel and aluminum, the U.S. won’t have enough of either metal to satisfy the needs of its demanding economy — or build the bright ‘golden age’ President Trump has promised.”
Laing said the last time these sectors were tariffed during President Trump’s first term, there was a net loss of tens of thousands of American blue-collar jobs.
“And that was at 25 per cent tariffs on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum. Both the increase and the potential of compounding tariffs will make this go-around significantly more painful and more expensive.”
President Trump “may as well hand over North America’s steel and aluminum leadership to China.”
Laing also called for negotiation of a “lasting agreement on trade.”
1:11 p.m. Mark Carney has released a statement
”President Trump’s latest tariffs are an attack on Canadian workers, families, and businesses. My government will ensure our response has maximum impact in the U.S. and minimal impact here in Canada, while supporting the workers impacted. My government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect and make credible, reliable commitments to free and fair trade,” said Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney.
1:10 p.m. BQ leader Yves-Francois Blanchet told reporters Trump’s latest threat reveals that he is running out of cards and time as markets and Americans begin to realize that his tariff strategy is a failure.
1:05 p.m. New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh posted on X, before he was to hold a news conference later today, using the rallying call: “Elbows up, Canada.”
“Donald Trump’s about to learn that Canada’s got nerves of steel,” Singh said, repeating a previous NDP proposal that Canada should embark on an infrastructure building program, using only Canadian companies and products. “Let’s get building the bridges, ships, hospitals and homes we need, and do it with 100% Canadian steel and aluminum,” he posted.
“Let’s keep steel and aluminum workers on the job.”
1 p.m. Pierre Poilievre calls tariffs ‘yet another betrayal’
The Canadian government had offered no immediate reaction, but Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre called it “yet another betrayal by the President of the long friendship between Canada and the United States” and called on Ottawa to immediately bring in matching retaliatory 50 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imported from the United States.”
12:54 p.m. War of words rattling producers across Canada
Algoma Steel CEO Michael Garcia, speaking to CBC, said a 50 per cent U.S. tariff would wipe out the ability to “continue a profitable business into the United States.” In the short term, he said, the company is examining its operations and ability to cover fixed costs. In the long term, ongoing threats are creating uncertainty for businesses.
Garcia said he’d have more confidence if there were “deliberate discussions” happening between the countries as opposed to the public battle unfolding. “Everything seems to be happening kind of in the public arena with, you know, a shot fired here, then a retaliatory shot. And it’s it makes it very precarious for companies like ours to navigate through it.”
Steel industry representatives have argued it is an integrated industry in which both countries will be hurt by tariffs.
ICYMI: Do Canadian snowbirds really have to register to winter in the States? Confusion mounts over conflicting Trump policy guidance
Canadian snowbirds and others travelling to the U.S. for long-term stays are facing conflicting information around whether they need to register under new rules bought in by the Trump administration.
Evan Rachkovsky, spokesperson for the Canadian Snowbird Association, told the Star this is causing huge confusion in the community.
“The U.S. federal government needs to provide clear guidance,” he added.
Read the full story from the Star’s May Warren
12:40 p.m. Doug Ford on CNN
Premier Doug Ford said it’s clear that Canada’s limits on American producers’ access to the relatively small dairy market here gets under Trump’s skin, but said it should be discussed at a negotiating table.
“That is as simple as that. Let’s renegotiate the USMCA,” said Ford, using the American term for the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement that Trump signed in 2018 during his first term. “Let’s stop the bleeding on both sides of the border, as China is sitting there laughing at both countries. Let’s sit down and negotiate a fair trade for both countries and everyone benefits.”
12:30 p.m. Ford spoke to American media Tuesday and clapped back at Trump
On CNBC, Ford said that Ontario will not only retain its electricity surcharge, but also has barred American companies from bidding on about $50 billion in infrastructure projects the province controls, saying because of Trump, “We’re going to make sure that we focus on Ontario and Canadian companies.”
“Protectionism does not work,” said Ford, noting that while Canada and the U.S. are “duking it out, China’s laughing.”
“This is just absolutely chaotic. As far as I’m concerned, one person is responsible. That’s President Trump. Let’s sit down at the table and resolve the problem. That’s what we need to do.”
12 p.m. Trump’s tariff threats keep changing. We’re tracking what’s on, what’s on pause and what’s coming
Donald Trump’s tariff war with Canada is escalating with new measures from the U.S. and retaliatory responses from Canada.
Can’t keep track of Trump’s tariffs against Canada? Here’s everything we know.
Follow our changing graphic
11:45 p.m. Days after Justin Trudeau invoked the publication’s editorial in a stinging speech in Ottawa, The Wall Street Journal took to Instagram to advertise its tariff-related reported with a picture of Trudeau and Trump with text reading “It’s Your Business: Tariffs. Trudeau. Trump. Today.”
11:43 a.m. Trump posts again on Truth Social about Ontario’s electricity
“Why would our Country allow another Country to supply us with electricity, even for a small area? Who made these decisions, and why? And can you imagine Canada stooping so low as to use ELECTRICITY, that so affects the life of innocent people, as a bargaining chip and threat? They will pay a financial price for this so big that it will be read about in History Books for many years to come!,” Trump said.
11:40 a.m. Canada’s premiers and Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney all need to be singing from the same hymn sheet, said Matthew Holmes, director of public policy for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
“We have to make sure that everybody’s coordinated, and that’s not my sense right now,” said Holmes. “I want to make sure we’re not just responding emotionally to things that we don’t like.”
Trying to avoid being in Trump’s crosshairs is a safer strategy, at least in the short term, Holmes argued.
“Anything that has his attention right now is not good. And Canada definitely has his attention,” said Holmes. “It would benefit us to stand in the tall grass for a day or two.”
The increased tariff on steel would be devastating for Hamilton’s economy, Holmes said.
“A 50 per cent tariff is pretty tough on that city. Maybe they don’t come back from that,” said Holmes.
11:34 a.m. On CNN, Premier Doug Ford tells Wolf Blitzer that Trump’s tariff strategy has “backfired.” Ford tells Blitzer that “Canada will never be the 51st state.”
11:24 a.m. Doug Ford will be on CNN this morning
“I’ll be on @CNN with @wolfblitzer at 11:20 a.m. to continue sending a message to Americans that President Trump needs to end this tariff chaos for good,” Ford posted to X.
11:17 a.m. Trump’s threats to hit Canadian steel and aluminum with 50% tariffs beginning Wednesday hammer markets
As U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday to impose 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports beginning Wednesday, stock markets fell on both sides of the border.
In Toronto, the S&P TSX Composite Index was down 108.98 points to 24,262 by 10:40 a.m., a drop of just under half a percentage point. In New York, the S&P 500 was off by 0.88 per cent, while the Dow Jones industrial average was down 1.31 per cent.
The S&P Composite had been treading water until around 10 a.m., when Trump posted on Truth Social that he’d be hitting the Canadian metals with 50 per cent tariffs, rather than the previously threatened 25 per cent. Trump said the increase was in response to Doug Ford’s decision to impose a 25 per cent surcharge on Ontario electricity sent to the U.S.
Read the full story from the Star’s Josh Rubin
10:53 a.m. Speaking on MSNBC, Premier Doug Ford says “we will not back down, we will be relentless.” Ford says CEOs “need to get a backbone” and tell Trump to remove his tariffs. The premier notes US manufacturers “need the aluminum” from Quebec and Trump’s escalated tariffs will be bad for American companies. “It’s President Trump’s recession,” say Ford.
Donald Trump says he’ll jack up tariffs to 50% on all Canadian steel and aluminum effective Wednesday
U.S. President Donald Trump said he is moving immediately to jack up tariffs to 50 per cent on all Canadian steel and aluminum, to take effect Wednesday, in retaliation for Premier Doug Ford‘s move on a surcharge on electricity exports to American states.
In a pair of Truth Social posts Tuesday, Trump expressed fury at the move by Ontario to make electricity more expensive — a move that retaliated against the pending U.S. tariffs, and doubled his own penalty on Canadian metals.
And Trump ramped up his other threats on Canada, attacking dairy, cars, and saying he’ll penalize Canada on defence spending.
Read the full story from the Star’s Tonda MacCharles
Donald Trump rails against Doug Ford’s electricity retaliation move. ‘We don’t need your energy’
U.S. President Donald Trump has been jolted by Ontario’s 25 per cent surcharge on electricity sold stateside in retaliation to his tariffs.
Twelve hours after Premier Doug Ford imposed what he dubbed “tariff response charge” to be paid by utilities in New York, Michigan and Minnesota that import Ontario power, Trump took to social media to complain.
“Despite the fact that Canada is charging the USA from 250% to 390% Tariffs on many of our farm products, Ontario just announced a 25% surcharge on ‘electricity,’ of all things, and your (sic) not even allowed to do that,” the president said late Monday night.
