Canadian Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney signaled his willingness to engage directly with Trump but said he wants the US to respect Canada’s sovereignty.
Canada announced Wednesday that it will impose more than $20 billion in retaliatory tariffs following President Donald Trump’s decision to implement sweeping 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imported into the United States.
Trump introduced these tariffs as part of his broader effort to boost domestic manufacturing and correct what he views as trade imbalances with countries such as Canada. However, concerns have emerged that the measures could escalate into a broader trade war, leading to higher prices in the US. The European Union has also responded with countermeasures against US exports after facing similar tariff increases.
When asked Wednesday in the Oval Office whether the US would respond to retaliation from Europe and Canada, Trump told reporters, “Of course I will respond,” according to CNN.
Canada’s retaliatory tariffs, set to take effect Thursday, include a 25 percent duty on $20.1 billion worth of US imports, primarily steel and aluminum products. Additionally, billions of dollars in tariffs will be placed on other American goods, including computers and sporting equipment. In response to the tariffs, Canada’s Algoma Steel—one of the country’s largest steel producers and a major supplier to the US—announced it is temporarily suspending shipments to the US.
“We will continue to maintain our countermeasures and increase them on April 2nd,” said Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who is scheduled to meet with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington on Thursday.
“The conversation tomorrow will be around lowering the temperature and focusing on the process that President Trump set up, where Secretary Lutnick has up to April 2nd to determine a series of global tariff decisions,” LeBlanc added. The administration has indicated April 2 is when reciprocal tariff actions across several countries will be announced.
Canadian Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney signaled his willingness to engage directly with Trump but said he wants the US to respect Canada’s sovereignty.
“We’re working for a common approach, a much more comprehensive approach for trade,” he said. “We are all going to be better off when the greatest economic and security partnership in the world is renewed… You have a new government but the same commitment.”
