U.S. President Donald Trump has been in office for less than a year, but his on Canada and the rest of the world have already had a major impact.
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. Additional so-called “reciprocal” tariffs on all foreign trading partners is creating further turmoil.
Trump believes tariffs 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 tariffs amount to extra costs for importers and consumers, despite Trump’s promises during his presidential campaign to lower taxes and prices.
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.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has vowed to secure a new trade and security agreement with the U.S., ultimately pushing to remove the tariffs on Canada. That has proven to be a difficult task as Trump sticks to his aggressive trade tactics.
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:ÌýTrump, 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) ahead of a scheduled review of the trade pact in 2026.
Jan. 29, 2025: Canadian ministers travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with U.S. lawmakers and Trump administration officials 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:ÌýTrump 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 then-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:ÌýTrump 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. 21, 2025: Trump signs a memorandum to impose tariffs on countries, including Canada, that levy digital service taxes on U.S. technology companies.
March 1, 2025: lists Canada’s supply management system, the federal “zero plastic waste agenda,” Quebec’s Bill 96 French-language law, and the impending digital services tax as examples of non-tariff barriers to free trade with the U.S.
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March 4, 2025:ÌýTrump’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. Canadian potash duties are also reduced to 10 per cent, to match the ones on energy.
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 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.
March 12, 2025: Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs go into effect at midnight. Canada hits back at the U.S. with additional counter-tariffs worth $29.8 billion in response, which will go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on March 13.
March 13, 2025:ÌýOntario Premier Doug Ford and federal ministers Dominic LeBlanc and Francois-Philippe Champagne meet in Washington, D.C., with Lutnick and other Trump administration officials. The Canadians say the meeting kickstarted negotiations toward a potential resolution in the Canada-U.S. trade war, with the goal of lifting or reducing U.S. tariffs.
March 23, 2025: Prime Minister Mark Carney calls a federal election, with Trump’s tariffs and their impact on the Canadian economy a dominant campaign issue. Carney says he expects broad negotiations with the U.S. will wait until after a new government is elected on April 28.
March 26, 2025: Trump announces 25 per cent tariffs on foreign-made consumer vehicles and auto components,Ìýin addition to tariffs already in place on those goods, starting April 2. Vehicles built under North American free trade rules and imported into the U.S. will only face tariffs on non-U.S. components, according to Trump’s executive order.
March 27, 2025:ÌýTrump warns he will impose “large scale tariffs” on Canada and the European Union if they take retaliatory actions over his new tariffs “in order to do economic harm to the USA.”
Carney later says for the first time that the “old relationship” between Canada and the U.S. based on close economic and security ties “is over.”
March 28, 2025:ÌýCarney and Trump speak for the first time. Both leaders say the call went well, and that comprehensive negotiations on a new trade and security partnership will begin after the Canadian election. Trump appears to soften his rhetoric toward Canada afterward.
April 2, 2025: Trump launches his so-called “reciprocal” tariff policy on nearly all foreign trading partners. His executive order imposes a 10 per cent baseline tariff on all countries and territories, with increased tariffs based on half of what the U.S. deems that certain countries charge if that rate is above 20 per cent.
Canada is excluded from the new tariffs in the short term, but the fentanyl-related tariffs — along with exemptions — remain in place. The White House confirms that, in the event Trump removes the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, they will face a 12 per cent reciprocal tariff on all non-CUSMA-compliant products.
April 3, 2025: Trump’s auto tariffs take effect at midnight. Almost immediately, automaker Stellantis announces it is halting production on its Windsor, Ont., manufacturing facility for two weeks, affecting 3,600 jobs. The company also temporarily lays off 900 workers at five U.S. facilities and pauses production at a Mexico facility.
Carney announces Canada will match the U.S. tariffs with its own 25 per cent duties on all non-CUSMA vehicles and non-Canadian auto parts on CUSMA-compliant vehicles, but only those that are imported from the U.S. He says all revenue raised from the new countermeasures will go directly to supporting auto workers and the companies affected by Trump’s tariffs.
April 9, 2025: Canada’s counter-tariffs on U.S.-made vehicles and parts take effect at midnight.
Trump announces a three-month pause on all “reciprocal tariffs” higher than 10 per cent to allow for trade negotiations for all countries listed under the policy, except China. Canada and Mexico are not affected by the announcement.
April 23, 2025: Trump suggests his 25 per cent auto tariffs could go up for Canada “at some point,” but declines to give further details.
April 28, 2025: Carney leads the Liberals to a minority government in the federal election. He says his first priority as prime minister will be to secure a new trade and security partnership with the U.S.
Trump congratulates Carney on his election win and agrees to a future meeting at the White House.
April 29, 2025: Trump signs executive orders he says will give some temporary tariff relief to automakers reliant on North American supply chains and give them time to move their business to the U.S.
The orders ensure companies paying auto tariffs won’t see other levies like those on steel and aluminum stack on top of each other. They also give rebates to automakers that finish their vehicles in the U.S.
May 1, 2025: The U.S. Commerce Department confirms Canadian auto parts traded under North American free trade rules will be exempted from Trump’s auto tariffs.
May 2, 2025: U.S. tariffs on auto parts take effect at midnight, matching the 25 per cent rate set for imported vehicles. General Motors says it is reducing shifts at its Oshawa Assembly plant in Ontario “in light of forecasted demand and the evolving trade environment.â€
May 5, 2025: Trump threatens to impose a 100 per cent tariff on films not made in the U.S., which he says is necessary to bring production back to Hollywood and other American production hubs.
May 6, 2025: Carney meets with Trump at the White House. Both leaders express optimism that the relationship between Canada and the U.S. can be stabilized and agree to future talks.
May 28, 2025:ÌýThe U.S. Court of International Trade blocks Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico as well as his global “reciprocal tariffs,” ruling Trump exceeded his presidential authority. The ruling is overturned on appeal the following day, as is a separate court decision that also sought to block the tariffs.
May 30, 2025: Trump announces he’s doubling his tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50 per cent, effective June 4, saying it’s necessary for national defence to prioritize American products. The Canadian steel industry warns the increase will cause “mass disruption” and decimate the sector.
June 4, 2025: The new 50 per cent steel and aluminum tariff rate takes effect. Carney calls the increase “illegal” and vows to respond in ways that protect the Canadian steel and aluminum industry.
June 5, 2025: Statistics Canada releases data showing Canada posted an all-time record tradeÌýdeficit due to billions of dollars in lost U.S. exports amid the trade war.
Steel and aluminum industry leaders meet with government officials in Ottawa to discuss a response to the increased U.S. tariffs. Industry Minister Melanie Joly says measures will be announced quickly.
June 11, 2025: A U.S. appeals court keeps Trump’s emergency-related tariffs on Canada, Mexico and most other countries in place while the case is heard, extending an emergency stay on the international trade court ruling in May. A proposed schedule says arguments are expected in court by July 31.
Pete Hoekstra, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, appears to confirm talks are progressing toward a Canada-U.S. trade deal but stresses nothing is completed yet.
June 16, 2025: Trump meets with Carney at the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Alberta and says a deal with Canada is “achievable,” while defending his use of tariffs. After the meeting, Carney says the two leaders agreed to negotiate a new deal within 30 days.
June 19, 2025: Ottawa unveils measures to help the Canadian steel and aluminum industries from U.S. tariff-related impacts. Carney says Canada will “adjust” its existing counter-tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum on July 21 “to levels consistent with progress that has been made” in broader trade talks with the Trump administration.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne says Ottawa is going ahead with a digital services tax set to kick in June 30 for American big tech companies, despite protests from the U.S. and calls from Canadian and American business groups to pause or cancel the tax amid negotiations.
June 27, 2025:ÌýTrump announces he’s terminating trade talks with Canada “effective immediately” due to the impending digital services tax. He says a new tariff rate for Canada will be announced within seven days.
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