Canadian officials were informed that April 2 will be a crucial day in establishing the Trump tariff doctrine in talks aimed at finding a consensus on tariffs and that any relief could come later.
According to two people with direct knowledge of
their conversation, high-ranking U.S. representatives told a Canadian
delegation on Thursday that Canada, or any other nation in President Trump's
crosshairs, could not avoid a new round of extensive tariffs on April 2.
At a meeting in Washington, D.C., American
officials informed their Canadian counterparts that after that date,
negotiations to remove some tariffs or even reach a more comprehensive trade
agreement would take place.
Mr. Through an executive order, Trump has
directed an in-depth investigation of trade with many partners, including
Canada, as well as the imposition of "reciprocal" tariffs that will
take effect on April 2 to match the surcharges that other nations levy on U.S.
goods. The United States was represented in the meeting by Commerce Secretary
Howard Lutnick and U.S. Jamieson Greer, a trade representative.
Dominic LeBlanc, Canada's finance minister;
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne; Ontario Premier Doug Ford; and
Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador to the United States, all served as
representatives for the country. Two Canadian officials with direct knowledge
of the meeting, who requested anonymity because they were not permitted to
discuss it with the media, claim that the officials left the meeting, which
lasted more than an hour, with a clearer but not necessarily more optimistic
sense of what lies ahead.
While Trump officials made it abundantly clear
that they would support reciprocal tariffs, Mr. Trump has shown a repeated
penchant for vowing to press ahead with tariffs only to decide at the last
minute to back down or grant a reprieve.
The meeting was an attempt to calm down the
relationship between the two countries, despite Mr. On Thursday, Trump
maintained his threats against Canada's sovereignty. According to Canadian
officials, Mr. Lutnick and Greer informed them that the Trump administration is
steadfast in its support of tariffs as a trade policy and in the use of tariffs
to rethink the relationship between the United States and the rest of the
world.
They were informed that the establishment of this
new doctrine would take a significant step on April 2. Mr. The previous month,
Trump instructed his advisers to devise new tariff levels that take into
account a variety of trade barriers as well as additional economic strategies
adopted by America's trading partners. This includes not only the tariffs that
other nations impose on products produced in the United States but also the
subsidies that these nations provide to their industries, their exchange rates,
and other measures that the president considers to be unfair. Mr. Trump has
said he needed to take action to even out America’s “unfair” relationships and
stop other countries from taking advantage of the United States on trade.
However, he has made it abundantly clear that his ultimate objective was to
compel businesses to relocate their production back to the United States.
Officials in Canada were left with the impression
that the United States was willing to ignore the negative reaction from
financial markets to the president's tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada. The
American side explained that neither Canada nor any other nation could prevent
the April 2 tariffs. Instead, the administration planned to go full steam ahead
and, depending on how the market responded, consider individual exemptions,
modifications, or broader renegotiations of tariffs with particular nations.
After on-again-off-again threats of expansive
tariffs, the United States now applies 25 percent surcharges on Canadian steel
and aluminum as well as 25 percent on goods that do not comply with the
existing trade agreement between the two nations...
Canada could enter a recession this year as a
result of the tariffs imposed thus far, Canada's retaliation against U.S.
imports, and the general atmosphere of volatility and uncertainty. During the
meeting on Thursday, a representative of the Trump administration stated that
Mr. Lutnick and Greer had emphasized the Trump administration's dedication to
pursuing fair trade and that both countries had acknowledged their
relationship's strength and history.
Mr.
Lutnick has been meeting with a lot of foreign officials to make sure Mr.
Trump’s message was heard and acted on accordingly, the U.S. official said. The
official went on to say that the goal of the Trump administration was to help
American businesses succeed on the global market by establishing relationships
that were well-balanced, reducing trade deficits, and removing foreign trade
restrictions.
Canadian officials are expected to return to
Washington next week to talk with Mr. They stated that Greer should begin
focusing on addressing two key U.S. concerns raised at the Thursday meeting: The
Canadian digital services tax and the issue of dairy product quotas and
surcharges. Revenues from online businesses, such as social media platforms,
online marketplaces, and online advertising, which are dominated by American
companies, are subject to a 3% tax in Canada.
Since the Biden administration, the tax has been
a major issue in the trade relationship between the United States and Canada.
After a certain threshold of imports is reached, Canada and the United States
use quotas and other measures to limit each other's dairy imports. As part
of the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement into its
successor trade agreement, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Trump agreed to
this system in 2018.
The officials in the Thursday meeting also said
that there was a broader feeling that the tone of the talks could improve with
the departure of Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who is being replaced
on Friday by Mark Carney. Mr. Trump and Trudeau had far right personal chemistry
dating back to Mr. The first term of Trump “The temperature has come down,” Mr.
When Ford left the meeting on Thursday, he told the media. “I think we leave
Washington better prepared to ensure that we can defend Canadian interests,”
Mr. The minister of industry added.
