OTTAWA — While U.S. President Donald Trump's team indicated Monday he wouldn't hit Canada with damaging tariffs on his inauguration day, Canadian politicians and business groups are warning that tariffs could still be on the horizon.
"Everything is to be determined, and it will be 'to be determined' for the next four years," Liberal MP John McKay, co-chair of Canada-United States inter-parliamentary group, told the Canadian Press.
"We need to be prepared should there be tariffs and Canada, I would say, is ready," said Trade Minister Mary Ng.
Quebec Premier François Legault said he believes Trump is serious about eliminating the United States' trade deficit with Canada and tariffs remain a real risk.
“I’m not saying that we won and it’s over with Mr. Trump,” he told reporters. “It may happen tomorrow morning.”
In November, Trump threatened to hit Canada with steep 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs in an executive order on his first day back in office.
But shortly before Trump was sworn into office Monday, an incoming White House official who insisted on anonymity pointed reporters to a Wall Street Journal report that said Trump plans to sign an executive order launching an investigation into alleged unfair trade and currency practices by Canada, Mexico and China.
Tariffs weren't mentioned in a list of first priorities issued by the White House hours after Trump was sworn in.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said repeatedly that Canada is ready to respond with countermeasures if Trump makes good on his tariff threat. He issued a statement congratulating Trump shortly after his swearing-in, but did not refer specifically to tariffs.
"We are strongest when we work together, and I look forward to working with President Trump, his administration, members of the United States Congress, and officials at the state and local levels to deliver prosperity for our peoples – while protecting and defending the interests of Canadians,” Trudeau said in the statement.
Two federal government sources who were not authorized to speak publicly about details of the federal counter-tariff plan said Ottawa is waiting to see what Trump does before revealing its response.
The federal government has promised to pump $1.3 billion in new resources into border security over the next six years in the hopes of convincing Trump not to impose tariffs. Trump initially tied the tariff threat to concerns about border security but later seemed more concerned with the trade imbalance between Canada and the U.S.
As Trump began his second term as president, federal cabinet ministers gathered in Montebello, Que., for two days of meetings to talk about the tariff threat.
Prime Minister Trudeau met with the country's 13 premiers last Wednesday to discuss possible retaliatory actions. At the end of those meetings, he and 12 premiers released a statement pledging to present a united front to their American counterparts.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith opted out, saying she could not support any retaliation plan that included measures affecting oil and gas. In a statement posted to X on Monday, Smith said that despite "the promising news," the tariff threat is "still very real" and Canada needs to focus on diplomacy and drop any further talk about retaliatory measures.
She said in an interview with the Canadian Press the apparent pause on tariffs is "a recognition that we have such an integrated economy that any move has to be done thoughtfully."
Legault said his government isn’t ruling out retaliatory measures, including export tariffs on products like hydroelectricity. He said his province will also be ready to provide aid to affected businesses, as it did for businesses during the pandemic.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Monday that Trump's tariff threat still needs to be taken at face value.
"He’s just adding more uncertainty, (saying) 'I may not do it today, I’ll do it tomorrow. Maybe I’ll do it in a month.' That doesn’t help," Ford told CityNews. "So we’re going to take him serious."
Goldy Hyder, president and chief executive officer of the Business Council of Canada, said Canada has gotten a reprieve but it's still not clear what the outcome will be of the investigation the Trump administration plans to launch.
"If it comes back and it triggers on the part of the administration the need to impose those tariffs, we still need to be ready," he said.
Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said "the gloves don't drop to the ice today" but the business community remains "in high gear."
The head of Canada's largest private-sector union said she's skeptical of the reports saying Trump won't proceed with tariffs right away, given how he imposed tariffs during his first administration.
"No one should be breathing a sigh of relief at all right now," Unifor president Lana Payne said.
A new poll suggests there is limited support for Trump's threatened tariffs among Americans.
An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey found almost half of U.S. adults oppose charging tariffs on all goods brought into the U.S. from other countries — more than were in favour or were neutral on the question.
— With files from Dylan Robertson and Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington, Morgan Lowrie in Quebec and from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2025.
Kyle Duggan and Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press
