WASHINGTON — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Monday that Canada needs to send the message it will "fight back" after U.S. President Donald Trump said steep tariffs on Canadian and Mexican products are indeed coming next week.
In a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House on Monday, Trump was asked directly whether he was moving ahead with levies against America's closest neighbours.
"The tariffs are going forward on time, on schedule," Trump said.
Trump's executive order to implement 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian imports, with a lower 10 per cent levy on energy, was delayed until March 4 after Canada agreed to introduce new security measures at the border.
While the original executive order was tied to the flow of deadly fentanyl, the president said earlier this month the pause would allow time to reach a "final economic deal."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to Trump by phone Saturday ahead of Monday's virtual G7 meeting. While the call largely focused on Ukraine, the Prime Minister's Office said Trudeau also updated the president on efforts at the Canada-U.S. border to counter trafficking in fentanyl.
Canadian federal ministers and premiers have been cycling through Washington in recent weeks in an attempt to find out what it would take to get Trump to abandon his tariff plans. Despite the diplomatic push, it's still not clear what Trump wants in exchange for dropping the tariff threat for good.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data shows the number of people and drugs crossing illegally into the United States from Canada is minuscule compared to the volume coming across the United States' southern border.
Joly said Canadians have received positive feedback from American officials about efforts at the border. She noted the U.S. is a net exporter of guns, migrants and drugs to Canada.
Canada needs to be ready for all scenarios to "be able to deal with the unpredictability of President Trump," Joly said.
"We need to be aware that the threat of tariffs is a real one and may continue for a while," Joly said in a call with reporters from London. "And meanwhile, we need to stand strong and send a clear message that Canadians will fight back.”
Canada has vowed that if the tariffs are implemented, it will hit back with a package of retaliatory levies on billions of dollars worth of American goods.
Trump's first month in office saw a growing tariff agenda as the president looked to realign global trade.
He signed an executive order to implement "reciprocal tariffs" by raising U.S. duties to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports — levies that could come into force in April. He ordered 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States, including from Canada, starting March 12.
Trump also floated the idea of imposing tariffs on automobiles and forest products in April.
Trump told reporters Monday that America was "led by, in some cases, fools" when it came to trade and "anybody that would agree to allow this to happen to our country should be ashamed of themselves."
"I look at some of these agreements," he said. "I'd read them at night and I'd say, 'Who would ever sign a thing like this?' So the tariffs will go forward, yes, and we're going to make up a lot of territory."
The Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement was negotiated during the first Trump administration to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump described it at the time as the "best agreement we've ever made."
Experts and Canadian leaders have said it's likely Trump's current tariff threats are a negotiating tactic to rattle Canada and Mexico ahead of a mandatory 2026 review of the trilateral continental trade pact.
Joly said Monday that many of the threats to impose levies target countries around the globe, and it's critical to connect with allies to come up with a strong response. "It is important that allies under that threat work together and work as a coalition by having the same types of counter-measures."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 24, 2025.
Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press