U.S. President Donald Trump has been in office for less than 100 days, but he has already imposed tariffs on Canada and other key trading partners — with threats of more to come.
The growing trade war between the U.S. and Canada has sparked retaliation from Ottawa and the provinces, roiled stock markets and raised recession and inflation fears on both sides of the border.
Trump has stuck firm to his belief that tariffs on foreign importers will raise billions of dollars in revenue for the U.S. that will help address the national debt and bring manufacturing and investment back to the country after decades of free trade.
Economists almost universally agree the tariffs amount to an extra tax on importers, despite Trump’s promises during his presidential campaign to lower corporate tax rates.
Most consequentially for Canadians, though, is the betrayal many feel from a historically close ally, leaving almost 70 per cent thinking less of Americans as a result of the tariffs.
The tariffs have led to a wave of patriotism across Canada, and efforts to diversify trade and business contracts away from the U.S. are underway across all levels of government.
Here are the key announcements and actions Trump has taken since he returned to the White House and launched his trade war with Canada, and how we got here:
Jan. 20, 2025: Trump, speaking while signing executive orders hours after his inauguration as president, says he plans to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico by Feb. 1. The comment follows through on his initial threat on social media on Nov. 25 that tariffs would be imposed on both countries due to border security concerns, particularly fentanyl.
Among the orders Trump signs is a directive to the U.S. commerce department to study tariff impacts and trade deficits, with reports due back April 1. He also orders the start of consultations on the impact of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which Trump re-negotiated during his first term to replace NAFTA, ahead of a scheduled review of the trade pact in 2026.
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Jan. 29, 2025: Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and other Canadian ministers travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with U.S. lawmakers and Trump administration officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a diplomatic push to avoid the tariffs. It’s the culmination of weeks of outreach by federal and provincial officials through a “Team Canada” approach led by Ottawa.
Feb. 1, 2025: Trump signs an executive order imposing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods, with a lower 10 per cent levy on Canadian energy imports, to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. eastern time on Feb. 4.
Feb. 2, 2025: Canada announces immediate retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods will go into effect at the same time U.S. tariffs hit, with more tariffs to follow in 21 days, and introduces emergency supports for affected businesses. Provinces and territories say they will remove U.S. alcohol from regulated store shelves and cancel U.S. business contracts in response.
Feb. 3, 2025: Trump announces he’s suspending tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days after securing commitments on additional border security in calls with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, hours before the tariffs were to take effect. Trump says the tariffs will resume if Canada and Mexico don’t show progress on reducing fentanyl and irregular migrant crossings into the U.S.
Trudeau says most of the commitments were already being put into place as part of a $1.3-billion border security plan announced in December, but says the government will also appoint a “fentanyl czar” and designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations as part of the deal he struck with Trump.
Feb. 13, 2025: Trump announces 25 per cent tariffs on all foreign steel and aluminum imports will begin March 12, bringing back a policy from his first term. The White House confirms those will be on top of the 25 per cent blanket tariffs paused on Canada, meaning Canadian steel and aluminum will be tariffed at 50 per cent total.
Feb. 13, 2025: Trump signs a memorandum to impose “reciprocal” tariffs on all foreign imports starting April 2, with the intent of matching tariffs and trade measures on U.S. exports. He later says tariffs on specific industries — including autos, pharmaceuticals, semiconductor chips and more — will also begin in April, but does not specify rates.
Feb. 21, 2025: Trump signs a memorandum to impose tariffs on countries, including Canada, that levy digital service taxes on U.S. technology companies.
March 4, 2025: Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico go into effect at 12:01 a.m. eastern time, after the U.S. president says not enough has been done to address his concerns about fentanyl.
Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods kick in immediately, and provinces and territories bring back their own retaliatory measures first announced in February.
March 5, 2025: The White House says Trump will exempt the Big Three automakers — Ford, Stellantis and General Motors — from his tariffs on Canada and Mexico until April 2. The companies and autoworker unions had warned Trump’s tariffs would raise prices for vehicles made in North America, where parts and components cross U.S. borders multiple times during manufacturing.
March 6, 2025: Trump signs amended orders that exempt all CUSMA-compliant trade with Canada and Mexico, including auto parts, from his tariffs until April 2. Canadian officials later confirm roughly 40 per cent of exports to the U.S. will be exempted, while about half of Mexican goods will not face tariffs during the relief period.
March 7, 2025: Trump says Canada will face new tariffs on dairy and lumber that match the ones he says Canada puts on those products, and expects them to begin by March 11. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick later clarifies in media interviews that Trump was referring to the April 2 “reciprocal” tariffs, which will include dairy and lumber.
March 9, 2025: Fox News airs an interview with Trump in which he says tariffs “may go up” after April 2, and declines to assure Americans that his tariff policies won’t drive the U.S. into a recession.
March 10, 2025: Ontario begins charging a 25 per cent export tax on electricity it sells to over a million households in Michigan, Minnesota and New York as a response to U.S. tariffs.
March 11, 2025: Trump says he will increase his steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 per cent on Canadian exports in response to Ontario’s electricity surcharge and Premier Doug Ford’s threat to shut down power exports entirely if tariffs remain. The White House calls Ford’s comments “egregious and insulting” and echoes Trump’s threat of consequences if electricity is cut off.
Ford later announces his government is suspending the export tax after securing a meeting at the White House with Lutnick and federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, scheduled for March 13.
The White House later confirms Trump will keep the steel and aluminum tariff rate at 25 per cent for Canada and all other trading partners, with no exceptions.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
A timeline of Trump’s tariff threats and actions against Canada
