Canada ‘will take some time' before responding to Trump tariff increases, Mark Carney says

Hamilton Spectator

2 days ago

OTTAWA — Prime Minister
Mark Carney
stopped short of immediately retaliating against U.S. President
Donald Trump's
new tariffs on
steel and aluminum
Wednesday, saying his government 'will take some time' as trade discussions continue with American officials, and union leaders warn of approaching devastation to jobs and livelihoods.
At Queen's Park, Premier
Doug Ford
also urged the federal government to double existing counter-tariffs on American steel and aluminum, and accused Trump of trying to shut down the province's steel industry, which has major operations in cities like Hamilton and Sault Ste. Marie.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he is disappointed U.S. President Donald Trump is doubling steel and aluminum tariffs. The last time Trump threatened to raise that set of tariffs to 50 per cent it was in response to Ford placing a surcharge on electricity Ontario sends to three U.S. states. Ford agreed to remove it and Trump backed off that threat, but now with the 50 per cent tariff rate taking effect Wednesday, Ford says the Americans broke a promise. (June 3, 2025 / The Canadian Press)
Shortly after midnight Wednesday, Trump
raised existing tariffs
on steel and aluminum from 25 per cent to 50 per cent — a move that hit Canada and countries around the world as the White House argues steeper import taxes are needed to protect an industry it sees as vital to U.S. national security.
On his way into his weekly caucus meeting, Carney called the new tariffs 'illegal' and 'unjustified,' but said he wants to see how ongoing trade negotiations with the United States play out.
'We will take some time, not much — some time, because we are in intensive discussions right now with the Americans on the trading relationship,' he said.
'I would note that the American action is a global action, it's not one targeted at Canada,' Carney added. 'So we will take some time, but not more.'
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne told reporters that negotiations are ongoing, and repeated the government's pledge to push back against American tariffs and support industries and workers that are affected by them.
'Things change fast in the tariff world, so we're all hands on deck on that,' Champagne said.
Later Wednesday morning, the Conservatives
called
for an emergency debate in the House of Commons, accusing the government of failing to get an exemption for Canada from Trump's steeper tariffs.
At Queen's Park, Ford said he would back any counter-tariffs imposed by Prime Minister Mark Carney's government.
'I support them 1,000 per cent on retaliation and I'm sure the rest of the premiers will as well,' said Ford, chair of the Council of the Federation and a close Carney ally.
'You're either standing up for Canada and protecting people's jobs, their livelihoods, protecting communities and the people and the jobs that they have — or you sit back and get steamrolled,' he said, who has already removed U.S. booze like California wines and Kentucky bourbon from LCBO shelves.
'I'm going to fight back like with every tool we have in our tool box to protect the people of Ontario and protect the jobs and the community. As I've always said, it's tariff-for-tariff, dollar-for-dollar. we need to tariff the steel coming into Canada at an additional 25 per cent totalling 50 per cent.'
Ford, who appeared on CNN Wednesday morning, said he was resuming his U.S. media blitz that made him staple on cable news shows earlier this year after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his tariff plans.
'What President Trump has done here is increase a tax of $15 billion on the backs of Americans,' he said, noting businesses will have to pass along the higher cost of steel and aluminum products and packaging to consumers.
'I've directed our office to make sure anything that we build here — the $30 billion that we're importing — to onshore as much as we can,' added the premier.
'I'm going to have another meeting with three or four of the large steel companies, getting a list, no matter if it's steel beams or rebar, to see how we can support them. They have to use Ontario steel, Canadian steel, at all costs — and that's what we're going to do to retaliate.'
But Ford stopped short of possibly imposing a 25 per cent surcharge on the electricity Ontario exports to about 1.5 million customers in New York, Michigan and Minnesota.
That high-profile threat made earlier in the trade war led to a worried Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick responding directly to the premier.
'Again, everything's on the table, but it's unfortunate that President Trump and his team in the U.S. thought this was a great idea. They can't see the forest beyond the trees,' said Ford.
Meanwhile, the head of the United Steel Workers union in Canada said the federal government has a very narrow window to get the tariffs rolled back before thousands of jobs are lost, perhaps permanently.
'I think they've got a week or two at most, because we will start seeing complete devastation,' said Marty Warren, USW's director for Canada.
The latest increase is devastating, Warren added.
'At 50 per cent, that really shuts our producers out of the U.S. The U.S. is slamming the door shut. We just can't compete at that level,' Warren said. 'Twenty-five per cent was disastrous enough. At 50 per cent, we are going to feel pain — communities, businesses, workers, I'm talking thousands of jobs.'
Union members, said Warren, are scared about the future.
'These have been good-paying jobs, where you could raise a family, buy a house. Now all that's gone. People are wondering if they're going to be working in three weeks. Our members are scared. Our communities are scared.'
Warren urged the federal government to block low-cost steel imports from China and India, as well as to retaliate against the U.S. Steel-producing countries will be even more motivated to flood other markets now that they're facing being shut out of the U.S., Warren added.
In a statement Wednesday, Unifor — Canada's largest private sector union — predicted the new steel and aluminum tariffs will drive up the price of cars, planes and 'critical infrastructure,' and called on the federal government to immediately retaliate.
The union also said Canada should temporarily stop exporting 'strategic metals' to the U.S., and block companies from relocating south of the border.
'President Trump fails to understand the chaos and damage these tariffs will inflict on workers and consumers in both Canada and the U.S.,' said a statement from Unifor's national president, Lana Payne.
'This is about economic sovereignty. Canada must respond with strength and urgency.'
Carney campaigned on a promise to 'win' the trade war against Trump. In recent days, the Conservatives have railed against his government for
creating remissions
to some counter-tariffs — effectively dropping them on certain goods — while declaring the need to firmly fight back against Trump's economic aggression.
On Tuesday, responding to concerns from steel producers that the remissions weakened Canada's response, Champagne's spokesperson Audrey Millette confirmed the government expects about $8 billion to be remitted on imports from the U.S., meaning 'about 73 per cent of the measures would remain in place.'
Carney said Wednesday that, not including remissions, Canada has retaliated against American tariffs with counter-tariffs on about $90 billion worth of American goods, and will use proceeds from those measures to support businesses and workers.
Trump first slapped tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in 2018, during his first term as president. He brought them back in March, when he imposed 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. The U.S. also placed tariffs on a Canadian goods that don't comply with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement that Trump signed in his first term, along with 25 per cent tariffs on cars and light trucks. Trump has threatened additional tariffs on other countries, claiming the U.S. has been mistreated and lost out in trading relationships for years.
Trump argues the tariffs, while they increase the cost of imports into the U.S., will boost industries in the U.S. and grow the economy.
In Canada, however, they have been met with consternation, with business and industry groups ringing alarm bells over damage to sectors ranging from automaking to forestry and other industries.
Meanwhile, on Parliament Hill, Liberal MP Terry Sheehan said 'everyone is very concerned' in his city of Sault Ste. Marie, home to a major Algoma steel factory. He said some are worried that jobs could be lost, and then home values and other community impacts could follow if the plant shuts down entirely.
'(The tariffs) are hurting the Canadian-American relationship terribly,' said Sheehan, who is also co-chair of the all-party 'steel caucus' in Parliament.
'I've never seen anything like this … This is totally, absolutely ludicrous to say the least.'
With files from Tonda MacCharles