Trump set to outline sweeping ‘reciprocal’ tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to speak from the White House at 4 p.m. ET and outline his tariff program — though details about how he intends to move forward with his plan, which could cause seismic shifts in the global economy, remain unclear.
The Latest
The U.S. president is set to outline his plans at 4 p.m. ET.CBC News Network is live now with special coverage.Prime Minister Mark Carney is back in Ottawa planning Canada’s response.The trade war has eclipsed the federal election campaign, with party leaders using airtime today to denounce the American president and pitch themselves as the person to take him on.What questions do you have about tariffs and the Canada-U.S. trade war? Email ask@cbc.ca.Updates
April 2
8 minutes ago
B.C. aerospace jobs on the line
Jessica Cheung
B.C. businesses brace for battery of Trump tariffs on Wednesday
The White House describes today as one of the most important days in modern American history, as U.S. President Donald Trump is rolling out sweeping new tariffs. Abbotsford is B.C.’s most vulnerable city to tariffs according to a report from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, due to its high number of agricultural and manufacturing jobs.
Hi, I’m Jessica Cheung, a reporter based in Vancouver.
This morning I travelled about 70 kilometres southwest to visit Abbotsford, just north of the U.S. border. Home to hundreds of agricultural and manufacturing jobs, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce says Abbotsford is one of the cities most vulnerable to tariffs because of how many of the goods it produces are destined for the United States.
“It will decimate us,” said Zrinko Amerl who runs BCR Aircraft, a small plane manufacturer. He expects he’ll lose more than half his business as soon as tariffs are in place, and isn’t sure the Canadian aerospace industry can survive a sustained hit.
Much like automobiles, aerospace manufacturers do a lot of cross-border business. The U.S. is the largest export market for Canadian planes and parts, contributing more than $28 billion to the GDP and creating 218,000 jobs in 2023.
Moving in the other direction, the U.S. Department of Commerce identifies Canada as one of its most important markets for aerospace products, accounting for about $10 billion in sales annually.
16 minutes ago
U.K.’s Keir Starmer and the ‘keep calm and carry on’ approach
Verity Stevenson
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street in London on Wednesday. (Sodiq Adelakun/Reuters)Keir Starmer, the U.K. prime minister, said yesterday his government would take a “calm, pragmatic approach” to whatever tariffs are announced.
Starmer has previously suggested he would rather strike a trade deal with the U.S. than enter a trade war.
Late last week, aboard Air Force One, Trump acknowledged some countries were interested in cutting deals and said he was willing to do that — but only after he imposed tariffs on them.
Today, though, Starmer said the U.K. had to be prepared for “all eventualities and we will rule nothing out.”
19 minutes ago
A note on timing
Rhianna Schmunk
Trump’s announcement was initially scheduled for 3 p.m. ET, but was bumped by an hour. That means the U.S. markets, which will certainly respond to the volatility, will be closed when the news comes.
24 minutes ago
What are ‘reciprocal’ tariffs?
Verity Stevenson
How the trade war will hit your wallet (and what you can do)
U.S. tariffs will make everything from groceries to manufactured goods to housing even more expensive. CBC’s Lauren Bird asks economists and personal finance experts to break down how bad things could get, and what Canadians can do to protect their finances.
The Trump administration has been calling the tariffs it is planning to impose on trading partners today “reciprocal.”
The idea, the president has said, is to match what the U.S. sees as trade barriers on American goods.
With regards to Canada, an annual report released yesterday by the Office of the United States Trade Representative identified irritants faced by American companies selling to Canada as Canada’s supply management of dairy, poultry and eggs, provincial liquor boards, Quebec’s French-language law and the digital services tax.
U.S. media reported yesterday afternoon that Trump was still weighing whether to impose a flat tariff across the board or go ahead with country-specific tariffs.
How the latter would be calculated is a whole other ball game the U.S. hasn’t said how it would proceed on.
26 minutes ago
Less than an hour to go
Jenna Benchetrit
U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters, Blair Gable/Reuters)The hourglass is running out. For those of you just tuning into our live page, Trump is set to speak from the White House Rose Garden at 4 p.m. ET, where it’s expected that he’ll announce sweeping tariffs that could impact all countries, upending global trade.
But the fact is that we won’t know what the substance of that announcement will be until he makes it. CBC’s Washington-based foreign correspondent Katie Simpson will be in the Rose Garden to figure out what a new trade action could mean for Canada.
Back on this side of the border, Carney is set to meet with the Canada-U.S. relations cabinet council at 5:30 p.m. ET in Ottawa, where they’ll discuss a response. We’re not holding our breath for any major announcements from the government tonight, though, while they comb through the details.
28 minutes ago
How might Canada retaliate?
Darren Major
A timeline of the trade war so far. (CBC News)Hi folks, I’m a senior writer with the politics team in Ottawa.
We’ve been hearing from sources about how the federal government could retaliate to Trump’s latest tariffs.
Right now it’s a wait-and-see game. The government wants to see what Trump actually announces before proceeding with a retaliation plan, sources have told CBC News and Radio-Canada.
The goal will be to maximize financial pain on American industry while minimizing the impact on Canadians, the sources said.
The government has had a drawn up list of counter-tariffs for $155 billion worth of U.S. goods for the past few months. Ottawa has slapped levies on $60 billion worth of American goods, leaving a further $95 billion in play from that original list.
The graph above outlines what Canada and the U.S. have imposed so far.
31 minutes ago
Mexico’s president has hinted at her strategy
Rhianna Schmunk
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum addresses the media in Mexico City on Wednesday. (Henry Romero/Reuters)Rhianna Schmunk here, reporting on the national desk. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she’s waiting to see exactly what Trump says, but did confirm she’s not planning to hit back with tit-for-tat tariffs.
At her daily morning news conference, she said Mexico will announce a “comprehensive program” tomorrow — not “a tit-for-tat on tariffs.”
“Let’s see what announcement they make, but we have a plan to strengthen the economy under any circumstance,” Sheinbaum said.
Carney has said he’s also waiting to see what Trump does before making his plans public.
34 minutes ago
Meanwhile, U.S. senators face vote to block some tariffs on Canada
Verity Stevenson
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine gestures during a senate committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 6. (Kent Nishimura/Reuters)Hey there, I’m filing live updates this afternoon from Montreal. As the world awaits what kinds of tariffs Trump will unveil to trading partners in the Rose Garden, the U.S. Senate will vote on a measure to block already announced tariffs on Canadian products.
The resolution is bipartisan — led by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and co-sponsored by Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky — but so far most of its support is from Democrats. Overnight on Truth Social, Trump took aim at Republicans who had indicated they would vote in favour.
The measure calls for an end to the national emergency the president used to justify the tariffs on goods not in compliance with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement.
The emergency? Illegal fentanyl trafficking and migration on both U.S. borders.
Kaine called it a “made-up emergency” referring to Canada and said tariffs on Canadian goods would cost American consumers.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the tariffs are a “tax increase on American families.”
The resolution requires the support of a minimum of four Republicans to pass. But either way, it’s unlikely to make it through Congress to become legally binding.
2 hours ago
Craft beer caught in the crossfire
Jenna Benchetrit
Craft beer on the shelves of a liquor store in Vancouver. (Ben Nelms/CBC)If you’re a fan of craft beer, your favourite brewery might be among the small businesses getting blitzed by tariffs.
Speaking from the company’s Hamilton, Ont., taproom, Collective Arts Brewing CEO and co-founder Matt Johnston said that U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum have made the brewery’s artistic beer cans a lot pricier to make.
The company sends raw Canadian aluminum down to the U.S. for processing, and its beer is canned there before being sent back up to Canada, making the cans 10 per cent pricier, Johnston said.
Meanwhile, hops — an essential ingredient in craft beer — are also often imported from the U.S., exposing them to duty charges, too.
“We’re trying to absorb as much of these price increases as we can, but … we’re already operating off the leanest margins in North America so there’s only so much we can do,” said Johnston.
“Beer is an affordable luxury,” he added. “You might not book your trip to the U.S., but maybe you’ll have a Canadian IPA. It’s those little pleasures in life, and so we’re hoping that [the] sales don’t drop off here.”
2 hours ago
Five parties qualified for the leaders’ debates
Rhianna Schmunk
The Leaders’ Debates Commission announced yesterday which parties qualified to have their leaders participate in a pair of debates next week: the Liberals, the Conservatives, the NDP, the Bloc Québécois and the Greens.
It hadn’t been certain whether the Greens would qualify, because the threshold to attend was higher this year than in 2021.
But the Greens polled high enough and put up enough candidates across the country by the deadline. The party has two co-leaders — Jonathan Pedneault and Elizabeth May — but it will likely be Pedneault stepping onstage in Montreal on April 16 and 17, since he’s taking the lead on campaigning.
The first debate will be in French and the second will be in English. The People’s Party of Canada did not make the cut.
