Trump to go ahead with 25 per cent tariff on Canada tomorrow, White House says

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the 'promises' of tariffs being imposed on Feb. 1 for Canada and Mexico will be kept.

U.S. President Donald Trump will be implementing a 25 per cent tariff on Canada tomorrow, according to his chief spokesperson.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the news during a briefing with reporters, stating that a Reuters report citing three sources indicating the president would be delaying tariffs until March 1, was “false.”

“I was just with the president in the Oval Office, and I can confirm that tomorrow, the Feb. 1 deadline that President Trump put into place… continues,” she said.

“The president will be implementing tomorrow a 25 per cent tariff on Mexico, 25 per cent tariffs on Canada, and a 10 per cent tariff on China for the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country which has killed tens of millions of Americans,” she said.

“These are promises made and promises kept by the president.”

When asked about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau comments this morning that Canada would put forward retaliatory tariffs, Leavitt indicated Trump would respond to Trudeau’s comments “in due time.”

“I think Justin Trudeau would be wise to talk to President Trump directly before pushing outlandish comments like that to the media,” she said.

Reuters had reported that the tariff imposition would include a process for the countries to seek specific exemptions for certain imports, but that no decision was final until Trump makes a public announcement.

Asked if there is a scenario where Canada, Mexico and China could offer concessions, Leavitt said Trump is clear the tariffs will be implemented, but if he at any time “decides to roll back those tariffs,” she’d “leave it to him to make that decision.”

“But starting tomorrow, those tariffs will be in place.”

No official word: Canadian source

According to a senior Canadian government source the federal government has yet to receive any official word or confirmation on the tariff imposition timeline from the Trump administration.

Speaking earlier on Friday in response to Trump’s Thursday assertion that he was ready to hit Canada with tariffs on Saturday, Trudeau said Canada is ready to respond.

Regardless of when the imposition occurs, the prime minister said that the country could be in for hard times.

“I won’t sugar coat it. Our nation could be facing difficult times in the coming days and weeks,” Trudeau said Friday.

“I know Canadians might be anxious and worried. I want them to know the federal government, and indeed, all orders of government have their backs,” Trudeau said, speaking ahead of a meeting of with his Canada-U.S. relations council in Toronto.

Even in making these remarks, the prime minister couched what Canada is expecting, stating that his understanding is Trump “is still committed to placing tariffs on Canada starting as early as tomorrow, possibly.”

Amid the conflicting messages from Trump and his pick for commerce secretary Howard Lutnick in recent days, Trudeau said while Canada still does not know precisely what could be coming, “we’re ready with… a purposeful, forceful but reasonable, immediate response.”

The federal government has a three-round retaliation planned, which would start by singling out a small list of American-made consumer products such as Kentucky bourbon and Florida orange juice.

This targeting would be followed by tariffs on a longer list of U.S. goods worth $37 billion, and then if needed, Canada would hit an additional $110 billion in manufacturing and other products with trade action.

Beyond this, the federal government is also planning a potentially pandemic-sized stimulus package to help businesses, but the scale of that relief would depend on the scope of what Trump dishes out.

How tariffs will hurt on both sides

“We’re in a critical moment,” the prime minister said of the looming trade war with Canada’s biggest trading partner, noting such action would have a detrimental impact on both countries’ deeply-linked economies.

According to analysis from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, a 25 per cent tariff could shrink Canada’s GDP by 2.6 per cent and cost Canadian households an average of $1,900 annually.

South of the border, it would result in a 1.6 per cent GDP drop, and an average $1,300 hit to American households.

“It’s not what we want, but if he moves forward, we will also act,” Trudeau said.

Daily, $3.6 billion in goods cross the Canada-U.S. border, and Canada is the top export market for 34 U.S. states, sustaining millions of jobs and businesses.

Canada’s border plan pitch falling short?

Leavitt’s Friday comment reiterate Trump’s assertion Thursday that he intended to follow through on his threat to impose punishing tariffs on Canadian imports on Saturday, despite efforts by the federal government to address the commander-in-chief’s concerns by fortifying the border with a $1.3 billion plan.

As reasoning for moving ahead with tariffs, the president pointed to illegal drugs and migrants crossing the border, suggesting Canada’s last-ditch lobbying efforts – both in D.C and through texts to top Trump officials – to promote its bolstered security measures haven’t gotten through to Trump.

Reiterating the steps Canada has taken to respond to the Americans’ border security concerns so far, Trudeau said the first patrol helicopters began monitoring the border earlier this week, and new canine teams and imaging tools are being deployed to detect and stop the flow of fentanyl.

“Our border is safe and secure, and less than one per cent of fentanyl and illegal crossings into the United States come from Canada. We’re committed to keeping it that way,” Trudeau said.

Federal cabinet ministers are continuing their outreach efforts in Washington on Friday, hoping to convince Republican lawmakers to hold off.

These efforts come as the Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday that Trump’s aides were considering offramps for the president to make a deal to dial back the Canada-Mexico tariffs.

‘Treated us very unfairly’

The president on Thursday also pointed to what he considers the “massive subsidies … in the form of deficits,” referencing the trade deficit between Canada and the United States.

“Mexico and Canada have never been good to us on trade,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. “They’ve treated us very unfairly on trade.”

Trump initially threatened in late November to impose across-the-board 25 per cent tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico on “day one” of his second term.

That didn’t happen. Instead, he signed an executive order initiating a study on broader trade practices, to be completed by April 1, and then later throwing out Feb. 1 as the implementation date for border-related tariffs.

On Thursday, Trump added: “Those tariffs may or may not rise with time,” and indicated he was still making up his mind about whether oil would be carved-out of the sweeping trade action.

Trump is expected to sign additional executive orders at 3 p.m. ET in the Oval Office, and it’s possible he’ll have more to say about his next steps on tariffs at that time.

Trudeau said that regardless of what’s coming, Canada “won’t back down.”

“We won’t relent until tariffs are removed. And of course, everything is on the table.”

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

With files from Reuters, CTV News’ Luca Caruso-Moro, Spencer Van Dyk, and Stephanie Ha