Trudeau promises Canada will ‘not back down’ from trade war, calls Trump reasoning for tariffs ‘bogus’

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is promising Canada will “not back down” from the trade war, calling U.S. President Donald Trump’s stated reasoning for imposing punishing tariffs on Canadian imports a “bogus” excuse to justify collapsing the Canadian economy in the hopes of making it easier to annex the country.

Trump has imposed 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico, and a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian energy, after his 30-day reprieve on the measure expired.

“Today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend,” Trudeau told reporters on Parliament Hill on Tuesday. “At the same time, they’re talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense.”

“Canadians are reasonable, and we are polite, but we will not back down from a fight, not when our country and the wellbeing of everyone in it is at stake,” he added.

The president has insisted several times since November that the tariffs are aimed at stopping the flow of illegal migrants and drugs over the borders. But Trump has also since lauded the use of tariffs on their own merit, quadrupling down on his comments about making Canada the 51st state, saying he’s prepared to use “economic force” to make that a reality, and adding the levies could be avoided if Canada agreed to be annexed.

“Even the excuse that he’s giving for these tariffs today, of fentanyl, is completely bogus, completely unjustified, completely false,” Trudeau said. “So, we actually have to fold back on the one thing he has said repeatedly, that what he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy, because that’ll make it easier to annex us.”

With tariffs now in place on both sides of the border, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is signalling there could be room to negotiate and “work something out.”

In an interview with Fox Business on Tuesday afternoon, Lutnick said he’s been speaking with Canadians and Mexicans “all day” about measures they’re taking to address the flow of fentanyl, adding “the president’s listening.”

“It’s not going to be a pause,” Lutnick said. “None of that pause stuff, but I think (Trump is) going to figure out, you do more and I’ll meet you in the middle some way and we’re going to probably be announcing that tomorrow.”

Appearing on CTV News Channel’s Power Play not long afterward, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly seemed to downplay the possibility of meeting “in the middle,” as Lutnick suggested.

“Before the U.S. launched its trade war, they didn’t have any communication with us… We’ll see what will happen in the State of Union speech of the president tonight before Congress, but let’s be frank, we’ve done the work at the border,” Joly told host Vassy Kapelos. “We’ve done everything to make sure that the Americans would be happy.”

Joly said she has a call scheduled with Secretary of State Marco Rubio at noon Wednesday, but being “frank,” at the end of the day “the only person that really does a deal is the president, and the people around him are always trying to guess what he will do.”

She said while Canadian officials will continue to engage with Trump’s team, “none of them know exactly what the president wants.”

Canada hits back with countermeasures

Canada’s retaliatory tariff plan includes two phases, said to total $30 billion in U.S. goods in the immediate term. A further round of tariffs on a wider list of American products, valued at $125 billion, is expected to come into effect 21 days later, following a public comment period.

Trudeau first announced the plan last month, and restated Monday that it still stands.

“Now I want to speak directly to one specific American,” Trudeau also said Tuesday, flanked by Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Joly and Public Safety Minister David McGuinty.

“Donald. In the over eight years, you and I have worked together, we’ve done big things,” Trudeau said, addressing the U.S. president, and pointing to “historic” trade deals.

The prime minister then said while he believes Trump is a “very smart guy,” inciting a trade war is “a very dumb thing to do.”

According to Canada’s finance department, Canada’s retaliatory plan will see tariffs of 25 per cent on a slate of U.S. products, including food and booze, to toilet paper and motorcycles. It’ll also target clothing and footwear, accessories and undergarments, cosmetics, luggage, home wares, furniture and appliances, tobacco, lumber, paper and more.

Trudeau said Tuesday that while the federal government plans to challenge Trump’s “illegal actions” through claims both with the World Trade Organization and the trilateral trade agreement known as USMCA, Canada’s counter-measures will remain in place until American tariffs are withdrawn.

As part Canada’s early efforts to stave off Trump’s tariff threats, Trudeau laid out a $1.3-billion border plan — which includes appointing a fentanyl czar and deploying additional personnel, drones, surveillance equipment and helicopters — along with other promises.

That plan, recommitted in an 11th-hour deal with Trump last month, helped secure the 30-day tariff reprieve, according to the prime minister.

In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Lutnick called the tariffs an “opioid-related tactic.” In an interview with CNN on Monday, he said: “The border was wide open. We needed to close it, and we want our trading partners to close it.”

Lutnick said while Canada and Mexico have “done a nice job on the border” in recent weeks, the progress hasn’t been enough to significantly reduce American overdose deaths from fentanyl.

“Let me be crystal clear: there is absolutely no justification or need whatsoever for these tariffs today,” Trudeau said Tuesday. “Now, the legal pretext your government is using to bring in these tariffs is that Canada is apparently unwilling to help in the fight against illegal fentanyl. Well, that is totally false.”

Trump acknowledges progress, pushing for more

Trump claims “drugs are still pouring” into the U.S. from Canada, but data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show fentanyl-related interceptions have decreased.

Last month, CBP told CTV News that illegal encounters between ports of entry at the Canada-U.S. border decreased by more than 80 per cent between June to November last year due to expanded enforcement efforts.

Fentanyl seizures at the border have also dropped by 97 per cent in January 2025 compared to December 2024, according to CBP.

On Wednesday, the RCMP also reported more than 46 kg of fentanyl, and 15,765 of fentanyl pills and other synthetic opioids, were seized between Dec. 9, 2024, and Jan. 18, 2025, as part of a “national sprint aimed at disrupting illegal fentanyl production and distribution in Canada.”

Prior to these latest efforts, Canadian officials highlighted that less than one per cent of all seized fentanyl imports into the U.S. comes from Canada.

Despite acknowledging this statistic, Trump said last Thursday that Canada “should be apprehending more.”

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C., U.S. Vice-President JD Vance said fentanyl is the “underlying element” of the sweeping U.S. tariffs beings imposed, saying “Canadians have not been serious about stopping the drug trade.”

He said the argument that only one per cent of fentanyl intercepted at the U.S. border comes from Canada is “not a defence.”

“The Canadians have allowed a lot of fentanyl to come into the country. It’s not a defence to say more has come from Mexico because way too much has come from Mexico too,” Vance said.

Premiers weigh in

Canada’s premiers, who have all been engaged in a diplomatic push south of the border in recent weeks to dissuade American lawmakers from following through on the tariffs, are also weighing in on Tuesday.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford promised to hit back hard, in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press on Monday.

Ford — who is also the chair of the Council of the Federation of Canada’s premiers — is threatening to cut off exports of Ontario nickel, scrap provincial government contracts with U.S. companies, and cut off electricity to New York, Michigan, and Minnesota.

In a press conference Tuesday, Ford said he’s applying a 25 per cent export tax on electricity “immediately,” with plans to cut off the resource entirely next month, if Trump moves forward with the reciprocal tariffs he’s threatened.

“I’m highly recommending to President Trump, don’t force our hand,” the Ontario premier — who won a new majority government last week — said. “You underestimate Canadians. You’re making a massive mistake.”

“We’re resilient, we’re proud, and we’re strong, and we will survive, and we will continue to thrive,” he added. “We’ll get through this together.”

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario has also begun pulling American alcohol from store shelves.

Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba are all doing the same.

N.S. Premier Tim Houston is also pledging his province will hit back.

“We will immediately limit access to provincial procurement for American businesses,” Houston wrote in a lengthy statement posted to social media. “They can no longer bid on provincial business. We are also actively seeking options to cancel existing contracts and reject outright bids until President Trump removes his unlawful tariffs.”

Houston added his province plans to double the cost of tolls for the Cobequid Pass highway for American commercial vehicles, and will dip into a contingency fund to help Nova Scotians weather the economic uncertainty.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who has been the most reluctant of Canada’s premiers to directly criticize Trump, is calling the tariffs “disappointing” and “illegal.”

“To see this escalation is so disappointing, so damaging, initially to American consumers and American businesses who buy Canadian goods and raw materials, but then now, with the counter-tariffs, it’s going to be also going to be harmful to Canadian consumers. No one wins a tariff war,” Smith said in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday.

Smith also echoed similar comments Trudeau, vowing Canada will challenge the tariffs.

“I don’t know why the President is behaving this way because it’s illegal,” Smith said. “We’re going to challenge it, and we would like to get back to negotiating some of the pressure points on that.”

Trump talks tariffs on social media

Trump has promised additional rounds of tariffs, including 25 per cent on steel and aluminum as of March 12 — which will be stacked onto the levies imposed today — and reciprocal tariffs starting early next month.

In a series of social media posts on Tuesday, the commander-in-chief responded to Canada’s countermeasures.

“Please explain to Governor Trudeau, of Canada, that when he puts on a Retaliatory Tariff on the U.S., our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!” Trump wrote, referencing his oft-repeated comment that Canada should become the 51st state and the prime minister a governor.

“IF COMPANIES MOVE TO THE UNITED STATES, THERE ARE NO TARIFFS!!?” he also wrote, in a separate post.

Singh calling for emergency return to Parliament

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling for an emergency return to Parliament so MPs can address the tariffs and implement support for workers.

“This is not something that we wanted,” Singh told reporters on Parliament Hill Tuesday. “It is unwarranted, it is wrong, it’s illegal, and we are going to fight back.”

Parliament has been prorogued since early January, when Trudeau resigned as Liberal leader, and is set to return on March 24, after his replacement is chosen by the party.

Singh said he wants to recall Parliament to present a united front in the trade war, but he stands by his plan to vote non-confidence in the Liberal government at the earliest opportunity once support for workers is in place.

“We have to fight to win,” Singh said. “And there is no other way to deal with someone like Donald Trump. He’s a bully, and he’s going to continue to use bullying tactics, so we have to fight back.”

During an interview on CTV’s Question Period last month, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc insisted “the government has the instruments necessary to support workers and Canadian businesses in the current context.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also spoke to reporters on Parliament Hill Tuesday, pledging “Canada will fight back” and “put Canada first.”

Poilievre said he supports retaliatory tariffs, adding the money collected from them should go toward tax cuts and targeted relief for workers.

He added Canada must use the trade war as a lesson and an opportunity to diversify its export markets, something several premiers have also pushed for.

With files from CTV News’ Rachel Aiello, Stephanie Ha and Brennan MacDonald