U.S. President Donald Trump has been in workplace for lower than 100 days, however he has already imposed tariffs on Canada and different key buying and selling companions — with threats of extra to come back.
The rising commerce conflict between the U.S. and Canada has sparked retaliation from Ottawa and the provinces, roiled inventory markets and raised recession and inflation fears on each side of the border.
Trump has caught agency to his perception that tariffs on international importers will elevate billions of {dollars} in income for the U.S. that can assist tackle the nationwide debt and produce manufacturing and funding again to the nation after a long time of free commerce.
Economists nearly universally agree the tariffs quantity to an additional tax on importers, regardless of Trump’s guarantees throughout his presidential marketing campaign to decrease company tax charges.

Most consequentially for Canadians, although, is the betrayal many really feel from a traditionally shut ally, leaving almost 70 per cent thinking less of Americans as a result of the tariffs.
The tariffs have led to a wave of patriotism throughout Canada, and efforts to diversify commerce and enterprise contracts away from the U.S. are underway throughout all ranges of presidency.
Listed here are the important thing bulletins and actions Trump has taken since he returned to the White Home and launched his commerce conflict with Canada, and the way we acquired right here:
Jan. 20, 2025: Trump, talking whereas signing govt orders hours after his inauguration as president, says he plans to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico by Feb. 1. The remark follows by on his preliminary menace on social media on Nov. 25 that tariffs can be imposed on each international locations attributable to border safety issues, significantly fentanyl.
Among the many orders Trump indicators is a directive to the U.S. commerce division to check tariff impacts and commerce deficits, with studies due again April 1. He additionally orders the beginning of consultations on the influence of the Canada-United States-Mexico Settlement (CUSMA), which Trump re-negotiated throughout his first time period to exchange NAFTA, forward of a scheduled evaluate of the commerce pact in 2026.

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Jan. 29, 2025: International Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and different Canadian ministers journey to Washington, D.C., to satisfy with U.S. lawmakers and Trump administration officers, together with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a diplomatic push to avoid the tariffs. It’s the end result of weeks of outreach by federal and provincial officers by a “Staff Canada” method led by Ottawa.
Feb. 1, 2025: Trump signs an executive order imposing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican items, with a decrease 10 per cent levy on Canadian vitality imports, to enter impact at 12:01 a.m. japanese time on Feb. 4.
Feb. 2, 2025: Canada announces immediate retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods will go into impact on the similar time U.S. tariffs hit, with extra tariffs to comply with in 21 days, and introduces emergency helps for affected companies. Provinces and territories say they’ll take away U.S. alcohol from regulated retailer cabinets and cancel U.S. enterprise contracts in response.

Feb. 3, 2025: Trump announces he’s suspending tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days after securing commitments on extra border safety in calls with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, hours earlier than the tariffs have been to take impact. Trump says the tariffs will resume if Canada and Mexico don’t present progress on decreasing fentanyl and irregular migrant crossings into the U.S.
Trudeau says a lot of the commitments have been already being put into place as a part of a $1.3-billion border safety plan introduced in December, however says the federal government may even appoint a “fentanyl czar” and designate Mexican drug cartels as international terrorist organizations as a part of the deal he struck with Trump.
Feb. 13, 2025: Trump announces 25 per cent tariffs on all foreign steel and aluminum imports will start March 12, bringing back a policy from his first term. The White Home confirms these will probably be on prime of the 25 per cent blanket tariffs paused on Canada, which means Canadian metal and aluminum will probably be tariffed at 50 per cent complete.
Feb. 13, 2025: Trump signs a memorandum to impose “reciprocal” tariffs on all international imports beginning April 2, with the intent of matching tariffs and commerce measures on U.S. exports. He later says tariffs on particular industries — together with autos, prescription drugs, semiconductor chips and extra — may even start in April, however doesn’t specify charges.
Feb. 21, 2025: Trump indicators a memorandum to impose tariffs on international locations, together with Canada, that levy digital service taxes on U.S. technology companies.
March 4, 2025: Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico go into effect at 12:01 a.m. eastern time, after the U.S. president says not sufficient has been completed to handle his issues about fentanyl.
Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion price of U.S. items kick in instantly, and provinces and territories carry again their very own retaliatory measures first introduced in February.
March 5, 2025: The White House says Trump will exempt the Big Three automakers — Ford, Stellantis and Basic Motors — from his tariffs on Canada and Mexico till April 2. The businesses and autoworker unions had warned Trump’s tariffs would elevate costs for autos made in North America, the place components and elements cross U.S. borders a number of occasions throughout manufacturing.
March 6, 2025: Trump indicators amended orders that exempt all CUSMA-compliant commerce with Canada and Mexico, together with auto components, from his tariffs till April 2. Canadian officers later affirm roughly 40 per cent of exports to the U.S. will probably be exempted, whereas about half of Mexican items won’t face tariffs in the course of the reduction interval.

March 7, 2025: Trump says Canada will face new tariffs on dairy and lumber that match those he says Canada places on these merchandise, and expects them to start by March 11. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick later clarifies in media interviews that Trump was referring to the April 2 “reciprocal” tariffs, which is able to embody dairy and lumber.
March 9, 2025: Fox News airs an interview with Trump in which he says tariffs “may go up” after April 2, and declines to guarantee People that his tariff insurance policies received’t drive the U.S. right into a recession.
March 10, 2025: Ontario begins charging a 25 per cent export tax on electricity it sells to over 1,000,000 households in Michigan, Minnesota and New York as a response to U.S. tariffs.
March 11, 2025: Trump says he will increase his steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 per cent on Canadian exports in response to Ontario’s electrical energy surcharge and Premier Doug Ford’s menace to close down energy exports solely if tariffs stay. The White Home calls Ford’s feedback “egregious and insulting” and echoes Trump’s menace of penalties if electrical energy is minimize off.
Ford later announces his government is suspending the export tax after securing a gathering on the White Home with Lutnick and federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, scheduled for March 13.
The White Home later confirms Trump will preserve the metal and aluminum tariff charge at 25 per cent for Canada and all different buying and selling companions, with no exceptions.
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