Donald Trump will not impose tariffs on Canada this Monday

(Ottawa) Down New York Times and the Wall Street Journal argue that new American President Donald Trump will not impose tariffs on Canada on the day of his inauguration, Monday.

The two major American dailies write that Mr. Trump would instead sign an executive order on Monday for an investigation into alleged unfair trade and monetary practices by Canada, Mexico and China.

The newspapers say the White House has confirmed that Mr. Trump will not impose tariffs on Monday, when he is to be officially sworn in at a ceremony in Washington.

Upon his election last November, Mr. Trump threatened to hit Canada with 25% customs duties in one of his very first “executive orders”, on the first day of his return to the White House on January 20. .

Canada says it is ready to respond with countermeasures if Mr. Trump carries out his threats. Ottawa is also injecting $1.3 billion in new resources for border security, hoping to convince Mr. Trump not to impose tariffs.

While Washington prepares for Mr. Trump’s inauguration on Monday, Canadian ministers are meeting in Montebello, in the Outaouais. The federal government has prepared several plans to retaliate if the tariffs take effect as early as Monday — plans that could include billions of dollars in retaliatory tariffs.

Two federal government sources who were not authorized to speak publicly about the details of the plans said the government will wait to see what happens on Monday before revealing its maps.

These Canadian Press sources indicated that if Mr. Trump sets tariffs at 25%, Canada’s first salvo would be counter-tariffs worth about $37 billion. A possible second wave of customs tariffs worth an additional 110 billion would also be on the table.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened a meeting last Friday of a new advisory committee on Canada-U.S. relations, which includes former provincial premiers, including Jean Charest, representatives of the automobile industry, the agricultural sector and unions, as well as business people.

Mr. Trudeau also met with the 13 provincial and territorial premiers last Wednesday to discuss possible retaliatory measures. Following the meeting, he and 12 provincial and territorial premiers issued a statement pledging to present a united front to their American counterparts.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith stood aside, refusing to sign the declaration. She explained on social media that she could not support the “Team Canada” approach if energy exports could be part of the federal government’s response.

Mr. Trudeau said everything must be on the table, including energy.

With information from Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington