‘I can confirm that we will continue to be in a trade war that was launched by the United States for the foreseeable future,’ Trudeau said You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account. OTTAWA â Canada will not proceed with its second round of tariffs against the United States until next month, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced Thursday, following President Donald Trumpâs decision to hit pause for a month on his 25 per cent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico that are covered by its free trade agreement. Until then, LeBlanc says, Canada will continue pushing âfor the removal of all tariffs.â Enjoy the latest local, national and international news. Enjoy the latest local, national and international news. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Don’t have an account? Create Account That means Canada is not backing down from its retaliatory tariffs on $30-billion worth of U.S. goods. For Canadian and American lawmakers alike, the last 48-hours have been marked by chaos and confusion over Trumpâs changing position on tariffs. After hitting Canada with 25 per cent tariffs on Tuesday, except for energy which was subject to 10 per cent levy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded by announcing Canada was imposing its own 25 per cent tariffs on $30-billion worth of U.S. goods. Trudeau said Canada would expand it list of tariffs to cover another $125-billion worth of U.S. goods 21 days later, on March 25. By Wednesday, Trump announced an exemption for the auto sector until April 2, the date he set for when âreciprocal tariffsâ would kick in. The president did so at the request of General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, known as the Big Three in auto-manufacturing. By Thursday, the president was ready for more exemptions. That morning, U.S. commerce secretary told CNBC that Trump was likely to announce a pause for all goods covered under its free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, known in Canada as CUSMA. Your guide to the world of Canadian politics. (Subscriber exclusive on Saturdays) By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of First Reading will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. By noon ET, Trump posted to Truth Social that he had reached an agreement with Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum. His decision on Canada became public later that afternoon as he was signing executive orders. While Trump said the deal with Sheinbaum was made âout of respect,â he had less flattering words for Trudeau. In a post on Truth Social, the president repeated his false accusation of Trudeau using the ongoing trade war to stay in power. Trudeau is expected to step down in the next few days, after his successor is chosen on Sunday. âBelieve it or not, despite the terrible job heâs done for Canada, I think that Justin Trudeau is using the Tariff problem, which he has largely caused, in order to run again for Prime Minister. So much fun to watch!â Trump wrote. Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said he still intends to go ahead with tariffs on steel and aluminum on March 12, including on Canada and Mexico, and repeated his plans to impose âreciprocalâ tariffs on both countries starting on April 2. âMost of the tariffs go on April the second,â Trump said before signing his executive orders. âAnd then we have some temporary ones and small ones, relatively small, although itâs a lot of money having to do with Mexico and Canada.â He also complained about Canadaâs milk and lumber, which he accused of being too expensive. âAnd yet, we donât need their lumber. We have more lumber than they do. We donât need Canadaâs. So what Iâm doing is Iâll be signing an executive order freeing up our forests so that weâre allowed to take down trees and make a lot of money and then re-harvest trees,â he said. Trump also said he was not looking to extend the exemption for autos for another month. LeBlanc took to X to respond to the U.S. agreeing to suspended tariffs on âCUSMA-complaintâ exports until April 2. âAs a result, Canada will not proceed with the second wave of tariffs on ($125-billion) of U.S. products until April 2, while we continue to work for the removal of all tariffs,â he said. âProgress is being made. We will continue working until all tariffs are completely lifted,â said Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly. Citing a White House official who insisted on anonymity to preview the orders on a call with reporters, The Associated Press reported the official said that roughly 62 per cent of imports from Canada would likely still face the new tariffs because theyâre not compliant with the free trade deal. LeBlancâs office has not yet responded to request for comment about Canadaâs position. The executive order Trump signed also changed the tariff on potash to 10 per cent, down from 25 per cent. Potash is a key ingredient in fertilizer, with Canada being the U.S.âs biggest supplier. The U.S. agriculture sector has been one of the hardest hit by Trumpâs tariffs, given that China also slapped tariffs on U.S. farming products after Trump increased tariffs on their imports to 20 per cent, up from 10 per cent. The Trump administration is facing widespread criticism because of the trade war, which caused the stock market to sink and alarmed U.S. consumers. Speaking at a press conference Thursday morning, Trudeau said Canada was pushing to see all U.S. tariffs lifted. âI can confirm that we will continue to be in a trade war that was launched by the United States for the foreseeable future.â âThere are obviously conversations ongoing right now with the U.S. administration, but as I said a number of times, we will not be backing down from our response tariffs until such a time as the unjustified American tariffs on Canadian goods are lifted.â A spokeswoman for Ontario Premier Doug Ford confirmed he intends to keep American booze off the shelves of the LCBO and still forge ahead with his plan to introduce a 25 per cent tariff on electricity sent to the United States from Ontario starting on Monday. The move would primarily affect northern states such as Minnesota, New York and Michigan. In an interview on CNN, Ford called for an end to the trade war and for the U.S. to instead come to the table to talk about its free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, which was negotiated during Trumpâs first term in office and is due for review in 2026. While Trump states the tariffs against Mexico and Canada has entirely to do with the level of fentanyl entering the U.S., Trudeau says Canada is responsible for less than one per cent of the fentanyl and migrants coming into the U.S. Calling Trumpâs decision to hit Canada with tariffs âdumb,â Trudeau told reporters on Tuesday that he believes the presidentâs real motive is to collapse the Canadian economy to make it easier to try to turn the country into a state, which Trump often says he wants to do. Trudeau and Trump spoke Wednesday for the first time after the U.S. implemented the tariffs at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. A senior government source says the call lasted around 50 minutes and that Lutnick and Vice President JD Vance also joined it. Asked about the conversation on Thursday, Trudeau characterized it as a âcolourful call.â He declined to comment on reports that the conversation grew heated at a times and that Trump used a profanity. âIâve been having conversations and working with Donald for over eight years now,â Trudeau says. âAnd a lot of it is rolling with it.â National Post, with additional reporting by The Associated Press Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at whatâs really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. 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