Canada releases first round of U.S. tariffs, announces relief program
By: By Ashleigh Stewart Canada's Global News
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Canada releases first round of U.S. tariffs, announces relief program
View image in full screen Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses media following the imposition of a raft of tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump against Canada, Mexico and China, in Ottawa, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. Minister of Public Safety David McGuinty, left to right, Global Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Minister of Governmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc look on. 
The federal government has released a list of the goods it will target first in its retaliation against U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hit back against Trump's tariffs on Saturday with retaliatory measures that will include immediate tariffs on $30-billion worth of goods, followed by further tariffs on $125 billion worth of American products in 21 days to "allow Canadian companies and supply chains to seek to find alternatives."
On Sunday, Minister of Finance Dominic LeBlanc announced the first $30 billion in affected goods as of Feb. 4, marking the first phase of Canada's response. It's an extensive list, covering everything from skincare to alcohol to clothes and a wide range of food stuffs.
The government will also be launching a process to allow businesses to request exceptional relief from the tariffs.
It came as senior government officials said Canada did not target specific U.S. states, but chose certain goods as they were strategic U.S. exports and that the Canadian tariffs were intended to mobilize key stakeholders and Americans to voice their opinions to Trump.
Officials admitted Republican states likely had more sway with the U.S. president, but that was only one of many factors that went into developing the list of tariffs.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Saturday that her country would also be announcing retaliatory tariffs. Canada's response was not a coordinated effort with Mexico, officials said, despite Trudeau and Sheinbaum speaking by phone Saturday after the U.S. tariffs were announced.
Export tax on oil not ruled out
Government officials declined to provide economic impact estimates of either set of tariffs, saying the studies would take time to carry out and until Saturday, they had no idea what form the tariffs would take. Trudeau admitted on Feb. 1 that he had been trying to get in touch with Trump since his inauguration — with no luck.
The second list will include products such as cars, trucks, buses, steel and aluminum, aerospace products and fruits and vegetables — and will be released in the coming days. A future export tax on oil has not been ruled out.
Canada's Border Services Agency will soon be issuing a customs notice to inform importers about how to enforce the tariffs, and help them to understand what they need to do to comply.
The tariffs will not apply to goods in transit, which means that goods that are already en route to Canada won't be subject to tariffs.
'Choose products made right here'
In a show of unity, leaders across the political spectrum issued directives to Canadians to buy local.
"Now is the time to choose products made right here in Canada," Trudeau posted Sunday on X. "Check the labels. Let's do our part. Wherever we can, choose Canada."
The premiers of Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador confirmed that U.S. products will be removed from their provincial liquor stores on Tuesday. A full list of those directives is here.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, addressing the country from Vancouver Sunday morning, said "we must put Canada first," while announcing a wide-ranging plan for retaliation.
"Common sense Conservatives condemn President Trump's massive, unjust and unjustified tariffs, which will damage both American and Canadian economies," Poilievre said.
5:33 Poilievre calls for emergency tax cut to put Canada 1st while condemning Trump's tariffs
Outlining his own seven-point plan for retaliation on Sunday morning, Poilievre said the government must respond by recalling Parliament, issuing "dollar-for-dollar" tariffs on the U.S., approaching key U.S. states that will be "up for grabs" in the 2026 congressional election, passing an emergency "bring it home" tax cut, boosting interprovincial trade, and rebuilding the military, among other points.
Dollar-for-dollar tariffs should be aimed at "maximizing the impact on American companies while minimizing the impact on Canadian consumers and businesses," he said.
That meant targeting U.S. products that Canada can do without, that consumers could buy elsewhere, or be manufactured in Canada — such as steel and aluminum, Poilievre said.
Poilievre then said the "tariffs must not be a tax grab," saying all money gained from tariffs should be put towards a "an immediate, emergency, 'bring it home' tax cut."
He then said Canada must focus on free trade across the country and "knock down interprovincial trade barriers."
"We sell twice as much to the Americans as we sell to ourselves. These interprovincial barriers are destructive."
Further, Poilievre said Canada needed to "rebuild our military and to take back control of our borders," citing illegal immigration and fentanyl overdoses as well as guns coming to Canada from the U.S.
Poilievre's final point was to approach key U.S. states that will be "up for grabs" ahead of the 2026 congressional election.
"To pressure the administration to back down, we must… let their congressmen and senators know that they will be running on a bad economic record if refinery workers have lost jobs because Canadian oil can no longer make it to them, or if young families can't buy homes because lumber is even more expensive for home builders, or families that are already suffering from inflation are paying more for gas because our energy has become more expensive due to American tariff s."
Like Trudeau a day earlier, Poilievre also took the opportunity to address Americans during his speech.
"You are our friends. You are our neighbours. We share the longest undefended border in the history of the world. You buy our products and we buy yours," Poilievre said.
Poilievre: 'We are already in a trade war'
Asked at what point the Canada-U.S. relationship would be beyond repair, Poilievre said: "Our friendship with the Americans is not based on any one politician. It is based on our centuries long history of trade, a friendship of common defence, of fighting on the battlefield, arms locked together against common enemies."
He also stated that he believed Canada was "already in a trade war" that "no one will win."
Earlier on Sunday, Trump again blasted Canada and other trade partners on social media.
He repeated his claims that the U.S. pays "hundreds of billions of dollars" to subsidize Canada, and once again suggested Canada should become part of the U.S.
"We don't need anything they have. We have unlimited Energy, should make our own Cars, and have more Lumber than we can ever use. Without this massive subsidy, Canada ceases to exist as a viable Country. Harsh but true! Therefore, Canada should become our Cherished 51st State. Much lower taxes, and far better military protection for the people of Canada — AND NO TARIFFS!"
During Poilievre's address, the Conservative Leader once again railed against the idea of Canada becoming the "51st state," saying Canada is "independent and we are a proud nation. And we will come through this as an independent and a proud sovereign nation."
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trudeau said Canada's response "will be far reaching and include everyday items such as American beer, wine and bourbon, fruits and fruit juices, including orange juice, along with vegetables, perfume, clothing and shoes.
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Although the White House will not be burned, a lot of American people will be because of a bad choice they made in November.
An insane choice. And from the comments here, it looks like Trump supporters still do not understand what they have done.
What WE can't understand is how supposedly intelligent people can support Trump and what he is doing.
Partisan / ideological blindness is apparently an extremely strong force.
As you're aware Buzz, I have numerous relatives in Canada and they are totally outraged at the US, I don’t blame them one bit, this is simply crazy.
And RIGHTLY SO!!!
interesting speech from the incoming Canadian PM . food for thought .
Yes, Mark, food for thought on both sides of the border. When the election soon happens, I will be voting for Poilievre to head a Conservative government, just as I have been voting Conservative for the past 40 years or so. Justin's father was the last Liberal I ever voted for, federally or provincially.
Hmmm wonder what we will do if push comes to shove with Canada and the US...
I guess seeing Canada and us are in the Commonwealth, Canada will come first..
And who else is in the Commonwealth...India and Pakistan.. two massive markets just waiting on the wings...
So now is the time for Canada to seek new trading partners and that will only be to Trump's detriment...
Absolutely, I've said that a few times already. And if Trump loses his mind absolutely and invades Canada in his desire to make it a 51st State I would hope that the Commonwealth nations would come to Canada's aid (as should all of NATO since Canada is a member).
But of course the U.S. is also a member of NATO . . .
I was opining on a situation in which he would have America betray NATO.
In that scenario I believe that there would be many American service men and women that would refuse. That is crazy beyond belief but with the nut case in the WH not totally out of the realm of possibility.
Being irrational is not beyond his style.
Agreed.
They are required to follow lawful orders, but an act of aggression against an ally nation is not a lawful order.
Some people would say that being rational is beyond his style!
India is a huge market. I read an article (i believe it was about a year ago) that India surpassed even China in population.
Yes that is correct..India took all our goods basically when we had a dust up with China and they banned certain goods etc..
We sort other markets and they are still going today... China has since dropped the bans and basically everything has gone back to normal now...
Canada needs to start looking and sourcing other markets now and what they have on offer will be hard to pass up..
It's become apparent that we must unite, defend what's right and fight back.
The mind boggles..
If the USA invades Greenland then Denmark would declare war, then we would have to defend Denmark as their Queen is an Aussie.. and she is extremely popular..plus all the Nordic countries would follow and their allies...
And if the USA invades Canada then we would have to declare war on the US as they are part of the Commonwealth and us mob stick together along with 50 other countries plus their allies..
How many more days before the next election are there???
Denmark is a NATO member and therefore Greenland would be defended by NATO.
Too many.
Best answer of the day.
Apparently Trump has backed down and has now paused his trade war for 30 days. I believe that if during that time he will take the advice of experts as to what he was doing would turn around and harm the American people more than those he targeted, perhaps he might reconsider that being a bully was a mistake.
he backed down or got something of value he wanted likely he got something i dont think he backs down to anyone .. i havent been able to find out what , unlike the deal with the Mexican President .
in any event . its 30 days , a lot can happen in that time frame.
Trump had already got what he wanted in that Trudeau had restricted immigration long before to the extent that he seriously put universities and colleges into financial dire straits, even closing one, and had already beefed up border security, closing some lesser border crossing depots and already had two out of many ordered Blackhawks patrolling the border and THEN the fucking bully said he was imposing tariffs within a couple of days. What a piece of shit he is - trying to show off how heroic he is to his sheep. IMO he has already damaged America's relationship with its neighbours.
I don't think he'll ever stop being a bully. (He may on rare occasions-- but basically bullying is his style)
“Wooly Bully” by Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs
Uno, dos, one, two, tres, quatro Matty told Hatty about a thing she saw. Had two big horns and a wooly jaw. Wooly bully, wooly bully. Wooly bully, wooly bully, wooly bully. Hatty told Matty, "Let's don't take no chance. Let's not be*L-seven*, come and learn to dance." Wooly bully, wooly bully Wooly bully, wooly bully, wooly bully. Matty told Hatty, "That's the thing to do. Get you someone really to pull the wool with you." Wooly bully, wooly bully. Wooly bully, wooly bully, wooly bully.