U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that he will impose 25% tariffs on all aluminum and steel imports to the U.S., including those from Canada, on March 12.
Here’s the latest news (all times eastern):
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7:50 p.m.
Liberal leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland says Trump’s tariff threats are illegal, unjustified and “self-mutilating” for the U.S.
Freeland said during a CNN appearance that Canada is America’s largest market and that it has “economic leverage.”
Freeland says if she were prime minister, retaliation would include dollar-for-dollar tariffs.
She notes that she has also proposed a 100% tariff on Teslas and that retaliation would target specific Trump constituencies and dairy farmers.
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6 p.m.
A White House official confirms that U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports would be stacked on top of other levies on Canadian goods, leading to a total 50% tariff.
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5:30 p.m.
Quebec Premier François Legault held meetings Tuesday in Washington with business leaders, primarily in the aluminum, lumber and transportation sectors, and said he would meet U.S. officials on the following day.
The mission of his trip is to find “new pathways” for a renegotiated free-trade deal with the U.S. “as fast as possible.”
“It’s clear that Mr. Trump is not satisfied with the deal that we have between the United States and Canada,” Legault told reporters about the North American free-trade deal, which includes Mexico.
“I think what he’s looking for – and he’s said this often – is new manufacturing jobs in the U.S. But he has to make the right choices.”
A review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement isn’t due until 2026, but Legault says the uncertainly that Trump’s tariff threats are creating is bad for business. A deal that satisfies all three countries is the only way forward, he said.
But tariffing aluminum and lumber from Canada is “ridiculous,” Legault said, as the U.S. only produces 14% of the aluminum it consumes, with 60% coming from Quebec.
“It can’t be done. They don’t have the energy, and if they do, they’ll put it in data centres, in defence, in other sectors than aluminum. No one believes that Mr. Trump can replace the aluminum that Quebec sends.”
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1:45 p.m.
Quebec Premier François Legault says he’ll be meeting with U.S. businesspeople and lawmakers over the next two days in Washington D.C., hoping to send a message to U.S. President Donald Trump that finding common ground is a much better option than a costly tariff war.
Legault spoke today with reporters ahead of meetings with associations and companies in the forestry and aluminum sector.
When Trump says the U.S. doesn’t need Canadian products, it’s a falsehood and Legault says he wants to get that message to the president by speaking to those who have his ear.
Legault notes that the U.S. consumes 5.9 million tonnes annually and only produces about 800,000 tonnes.
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12:08 p.m.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance says any tariffs on steel and aluminum would heap pressure on the trucking industry, which is already dealing with a slowdown in the freight market.
“Canada’s trucking industry plays a critical role in the movement of steel and aluminum products, and the impact on many of these fleets would be fatal,” president Stephen Laskowski said in a news release.
He called for discussions with all levels of government on the development of relief packages or stimulus measures for the steel and aluminum supply chain.
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11:39 a.m.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the world is watching the trade dispute between Canada and the United States and that China is sitting back and laughing.
Speaking to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Ford says he has heard serious concerns about China from U.S. lawmakers about how China is hijacking global supply chains and that U.S. workers have had enough.
He says decoupling the U.S. economy from China will not be an easy task and it will require friends and allies like Canada and Ontario.
“I can tell you Canada is here to help,” Ford said.
“Working together, Canada and the U.S. can be the richest, most successful, safest, most secure two countries on the entire planet.”
Ford and all of the other provincial and territorial premiers are in Washington today on a joint mission to convince U.S. President Donald Trump to drop his tariff threats.
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9 a.m.
A report by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s business data lab says Saint John, N.B., Calgary and Windsor, Ont., are the Canadian cities most vulnerable to U.S. tariffs.
The report noted that key energy export centres were exposed as well as cities in southwestern Ontario where the province’s auto and manufacturing hubs are located.
It also pointed to Hamilton, a major producer of steel, and Saguenay and Trois-Rivières in Quebec, where the province’s aluminum and forestry producers are located.
“President Trump’s proposed tariffs will have significant consequences for the global economy — but for some of Canada’s cities, the threat is far more local and personal,” said Stephen Tapp, the chamber’s chief economist.
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8:20 a.m.
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh issued a statement saying Canada cannot let the tariff threats go unanswered.
Singh is calling for Ottawa to respond with dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs and changes to procurement so Canada buys Canadian-made steel and aluminum for Canadian construction and manufacturing.
He is also seeking a 100% tariff on Elon Musk’s Teslas coming into the country.
“Donald Trump has unleashed a trade war on Canada and our workers. We can’t let it go unanswered, and we can’t let working Canadians pay the price for Trump’s attack,” Singh said.
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7 a.m.
The Aluminium Association of Canada says U.S. tariffs will hurt U.S. jobs and U.S. industries, including defence, automotive, construction and housing.
Association chief executive Jean Simard says a tariff will only drive prices higher – hurting Americans in their pocketbooks and undermining the agenda the U.S. government says it wants to achieve.
The association says Canadian aluminum workers produce the metal that is processed, transformed and fabricated into parts, components, and everyday products by more than 700,000 U.S. manufacturing workers.
It says imposing tariffs will only raise costs for U.S. consumers and businesses in the middle of inflation reduction efforts.
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5 a.m.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ottawa will work to convince the U.S. that President Donald Trump’s promised tariffs will hurt both countries.
A senior government official says Trudeau spoke with U.S. Vice-President JD Vance about the impact steel tariffs would have in Ohio, which Vance previously represented in the U.S. Senate.
Trudeau and Vance are both in Paris for a global summit on AI.
Trudeau briefly spoke to reporters before attending a plenary at the summit where Vance spoke.
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5:45 p.m.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he’s in Washington to help change the minds of lawmakers as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens 25% tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Moe says Canada and the United States depend on one another’s goods and are stronger economically when they can work together.
He says it’s incumbent on Canadian political and industrial leaders to make the case to U.S. officials who can convince Trump tariffs are bad for the economy.
Moe says targeted counter-tariffs from Canada can be effective but that broad-based retaliatory measures are harmful.
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4:23 p.m.
Toronto Region Board of Trade president and CEO Giles Gherson calls on the government to take immediate action to “shore up our economy and protect Canada’s economic sovereignty” in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threat.
The board of trade says its “emergency to-do list” includes imposing targeted counter-tariffs on U.S. products to protect Canadian steel and aluminum businesses and providing immediate financial support for Canadian steel and aluminum producers.
It says there is “little doubt that these crushing steel and aluminum tariffs may be the proverbial canary in the coal mine for a country pitching towards a serious national emergency.”
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2:30 p.m.
The White House says President Donald Trump’s executive order signing has been moved to 5:30 p.m. It was previously scheduled for 1 p.m.
No reason was provided for the delay.
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1:25 p.m.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is travelling back to Washington, D.C., along with her provincial counterparts to lobby U.S. lawmakers and industry amid continued tariff threats from the U.S. president.
Smith says she will embrace a “Team Canada approach” to convince Americans the levies will harm workers and businesses on both sides of the border, while also highlighting the “significant” role Alberta energy exports play in the U.S.
At the same time, Smith is demanding the Canadian government reverse what she calls “soft-on-crime” federal law as part of its response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s concerns about border security.
The premier says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government must reintroduce mandatory minimum jail sentences for drug offenders, or offer up federal funding for Alberta to take over drug prosecutions.
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11:17 a.m.
Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford says he has spoken with the CEOs of Canadian steel companies Stelco and Dofasco this morning about looming U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Ford says he will wait until Trump’s formal announcement this afternoon before reacting to the tariffs, but notes Ontario is prepared to react “hard” and “fast.”
Ford, who is heading to Washington, D.C., this week in his role as Ontario premier, says his team is in “constant communication” with federal officials and other premiers on the issue.
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10 a.m.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says that he would implement matching tariffs on American steel and aluminum if he was prime minister.
Speaking in Iqaluit, Poilievre says that money collected by counter tariffs would go back to Canada’s steel and aluminum industry, with any surplus used for broader tax relief.
However, when asked about high food prices in the north Poilievre says he’d put “every penny” collected by counter tariffs into lowering taxes.
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7:40 a.m.
The head of the Canadian Steel Producers Association says she is “deeply concerned” about the latest tariff threat by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The U.S. president said on Sunday that he will formally announce 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S. on Monday, including those coming from Canada and Mexico.
Catherine Cobden, CEO of Canadian Steel Producers Association, says when Trump implemented tariffs on Canadian steel in 2018, there were massive disruptions that hurt both Canada and the U.S. She called on the Ottawa to act again to fight the threat and be ready to retaliate.
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6 a.m.
Canadian ambassador to France Stéphane Dion says Canada and European countries are working on a cohesive strategy to address tariff threats from the United States.
U.S. President Donald Trump said again Sunday that he wants to see Canada become a U.S. state, after being asked about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent comments saying that Trump is not joking.
Trudeau is in Paris to attend the global summit on artificial intelligence. Late Sunday evening following a dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron, Trudeau did not answer reporters’ questions about the Trump’s statements.