（By River）
Ontario Premier Doug Ford maintains strong position on trade negotiations with the United States as a 35 percent tariff rate on Canadian imports comes into effect starting August 1. Ford called for Canadians to “not roll over” in a statement posted to social media platform X on Thursday night, urging politicians to retaliate:
“The federal government needs to hit back with a 50 per cent tariff on U.S. steel and aluminum.”
The current 35 per cent rate is already a 10 per cent increase from the original 25 per cent rate that has been in effect since March. However, as all goods subject to the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) are exempt, up to 95 per cent of goods crossing the border from Canada to the U.S. will remain unaffected.
Royal Bank of Canada estimated that after the first round of tariffs, almost 90 per cent of Canadian exports entered the U.S. duty free in April. Recent models indicate 100 per cent of energy exports and 95 per cent of other exports are compliant with CUSMA compliant going forward, meaning they will continue to enter the U.S. without incurring extra fees (with the exception of products subject to sectoral tariffs).
The unpredictability of President Trump’s economic agenda however, makes for uncertain future projections. Among the top cited reasons for the worsening Canada-U.S. relations is related to the fentanyl crisis, which Trump has repeatedly faulted Canada for, claiming a “flood” of fentanyl entering the country from the shared border—Canada accounts for less than one per cent of U.S. fentanyl imports.
As tensions heighten going into August, particularly as certain sectors remain impacted by tariffs, Prime Minister Carney reminds Canadians, “the Canadian government will act to protect Canadian jobs, invest in our industrial competitiveness, buy Canadian, and diversify our export markets,” in a statement today, and that negotiations with the United States are to continue. Specifics related to further deals have not been made clear yet at this time.
