Ottawa/CMEDIA: Following reportedly U.S. President Donald’s Aug. 1 deadline for Canada and other U.S. partners to reach new trade agreements under threat of yet another round of sweeping import tariffs, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney says Trump’s new 35 % tariffs are disappointing.
Carney added that Canada will continue to develop trade both domestically and overseas in response.
“While we will continue to negotiate with the United States on our trading relationship…building Canada strong. Canadians will be our own best customer…We can give ourselves more than any foreign government can ever take away.,” Carney wrote in a statement posted to X on Friday morning.
An executive order was signed by Trump activating tariffs against 68 countries and the European Union Thursday evening.
Tump said that new tariffs of 35 percent on Canadian exports, effective Friday, exclude products under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement (CUSMA).
“The U.S. application of CUSMA means that the U.S. average tariff rate on Canadian goods remains one of its lowest for all of its trading partners,” Carney noted in his Friday statement.
The Canadian government will act, he says, to protect Canadian jobs, invest in industrial competitiveness, buy Canadian and diversify export markets.
Also outlined in Carney’s statement is all the work Canada has been doing to crack down on fentanyl and increase border security.
“Canada accounts for only one per cent of U.S. fentanyl imports…is making historic investments in border security to arrest drug traffickers, take down transnational gangs and end migrant smuggling.”
Among the justifications offered in recent months for tariffs on Canada are trade deficits, Canada’s dairy industry’s supply management, Canada’s recent announcement of planning to recognize a sovereign Palestinian state and alleged flows of illicit fentanyl across the Canada-U.S. border.
“Given Canada’s continued failure to arrest traffickers…further presidential action is necessary and appropriate to protect American lives and the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” reads a Thursday release from the White House.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection data from other agencies show that only a fraction of U.S. fentanyl imports come from the northern border; a proportion described by one U.S. think tank as “not an important part of this story.”
“Canada’s government is making historic investments in border security to arrest drug traffickers, take down transnational gangs, and end migrant smuggling,” Carney wrote. “We will continue working with the United States to stop the scourge of fentanyl and save lives in both our countries.”
