Mark Carney Says Canada Is Disappointed

Canada is "disappointed" by President Trump's decision to slap a 35% tariff on imports from the country, one of America's largest trading partners, Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement early Friday. Trump cited Canada's "lack of cooperation in stemming the flood of fentanyl and other illicit drugs across our northern border" in an executive order Friday. Carney said Canada accounts for only 1% of fentanyl imports to the US and "has been working intensively to further reduce these volumes." The government, he said "is making historic investments in border security to arrest drug traffickers, take down transnational gangs, and end migrant smuggling."

Trump's order, which raised the "fentanyl tariff" from 25%, came despite weeks of negotiations, the Globe and Mail reports. Around 90% of Canadian exports to the US, however, remain exempt under the US-Canada-Mexico Agreement. That means the "US average tariff rate on Canadian goods remains one of its lowest for all of its trading partners," Carney said. For sectors heavily hit by US tariffs, including lumber, steel, aluminum, and autos, "the Canadian government will act to protect Canadian jobs, invest in our industrial competitiveness, buy Canadian, and diversify our export markets," Carney said.

• Other politicians said Carney should push for a deal to eliminate all US tariffs, the CBC reports. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said the tariffs are "unjustified" and Carney should accept "nothing short" of the tariff-free deal Canada had pre-Trump. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Canada should hit back with 50% tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from the US. "Now is not the time to roll over," he said. "We need to stand our ground."
• On Thursday, Trump said Canadian support for Palestinian statehood would make it "very hard" to reach a trade deal. The New York Times notes that linking a trade deal to another country's foreign policy could hurt the administration's argument in a lawsuit against Trump's tariffs. On Thursday, appeals court judges appeared skeptical of the administration's declarations of national emergencies to justify the tariffs, which are usually imposed by Congress.