Justin Trudeau during a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on February 1. Credit: David Kawai/Bloomberg.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that, after a call he had with President Donald Trump, new tariffs on Canadian and U.S. goods will be paused for 30 days. Canada is appointing a new fentanyl czar; will list cartels as terrorists; and will launch a joint “strike force” with the United States to fight organized crime, drug trafficking, and money laundering, Trudeau said in a post on X.
“I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl, and we will be backing it with $200 million,” Trudeau said. The Canadian government is going ahead with a C$1.3 billion (US$901 million) plan it announced in December to add more border security resources, including helicopters, the prime minister said.
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The White House did not immediately comment on the call or on Trudeau’s social media post.
The news takes the two countries back from the brink of a huge trade war—at least temporarily—that economists have said would hurt U.S. growth, worsen inflation, and possibly plunge Canada into recession. The Canadian dollar surged more than 1 percent on the news.
This after Trump signed an executive order on Saturday that imposed 25 percent tariffs on nearly all Canadian exports to the United States, aside from energy products, which would face a lower 10 percent duty. Hours later, Trudeau promised a retaliation package that would have put 25 percent tariffs on C$30 billion worth of U.S. imports, starting Tuesday, and on another C$125 billion of American-made goods in 21 days. Provincial governments across Canada also announced retaliation. Several of them ordered the removal of American-made beer, wine, and liquor from store shelves, and some announced they will make it difficult for U.S. companies to get government procurement contracts.
There has also been a rise in grassroots retaliation from Canadians, including citizen-led social media campaigns urging the boycott of U.S. goods, in addition to loud booing of the U.S. national anthem at hockey and basketball games in Canada.
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