WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump will implement 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports on Saturday as promised, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday.
“I was just with the president in the Oval Office and I can confirm that tomorrow, the Feb. 1 deadline that President Trump put in to place in a statement several weeks ago, continues,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt denied a news report that said the devastating duties might be delayed until March.
She said Mexico and Canada will face 25 per cent tariffs and China will see an additional 10 per cent tariff, and is linking the duties to fentanyl entering the United States.
Leavitt did not say whether there will be exemptions after Trump said Thursday he was still considering whether oil would be affected.
Earlier Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada is ready to deliver a “purposeful, forceful but reasonable immediate” response.
Trudeau, speaking before a meeting of the Council on Canada-U.S. Relations in Toronto, said devastating duties are “not what we want, but if he moves forward, we will also act.”
Trudeau later met with the Canada-US cabinet committee as key ministers made a last-ditch attempt to stop Trump’s tariff plan in Washington, D.C.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Public Safety Minister David McGuinty and Immigration Minister Marc Miller are making a final diplomatic push to convince Republican lawmakers and Trump’s team to sway the president.
The tariffs are “not hostile moves,” said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on The Megyn Kelly Show on Thursday.
Rubio said he doesn’t think Canada is a strategic threat to the United States. Pointing to his meeting with Joly earlier this week, Rubio said Canada and the U.S. have shared interests along the border.
“They’re good friends. I mean, we work with them on a lot of things,” he said. “We have a deep partnership with them … but there are some issues we’re going to need to address.”
Trump initially claimed his tariff threat was in response to a failure by Canada and Mexico to curb the illegal flow of people and drugs across the border. His complaints have since expanded to include trade deficits and national defence spending.
Trudeau said Friday Canada has responded to Trump’s concerns with a $1.3 billion border security plan.
“In fact, the first patrol helicopters began monitoring the border earlier this week, and new canine teams, along with imaging tools, are being deployed to detect and stop the flow of fentanyl,” he said.
He noted that less than one per cent of fentanyl and illegal crossings into the United States come from Canada.
The prime minister tried to reassure Canadians while acknowledging Canada “could be facing difficult times in the coming days and weeks.”
“I won’t sugarcoat it,” he said.
Trudeau said he knows Canadians “might be anxious and worried, but I want them to know the federal government, and indeed all orders of government, have their backs.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 31, 2025.
