
Read Carney's full response to Trump's 35% tariff on Canada
The 35 per cent tariff is an increase from a previously imposed 25 per cent duty and impacts goods not traded under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on free trade.
Those under CUSMA are exempt from the tariff.
Here is the full transcript of Carney's response, posted on Friday to X.
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President Trump has announced that the United States will increase its tariffs to 35% on those Canadian exports that are not covered under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA.
While the Canadian government is disappointed by this action, we remain committed to CUSMA, which is the world's second-largest free trade agreement by trading volume.
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The U.S. application of CUSMA means that the U.S. average tariff rate on Canadian goods remains one of its lowest for all of its trading partners. Other sectors of our economy — including lumber, steel, aluminum, and automobiles — are, however, heavily impacted by U.S. duties and tariffs.
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For such sectors, the Canadian government will act to protect Canadian jobs, invest in our industrial competitiveness, buy Canadian, and diversify our export markets.
The United States has justified its most recent trade action on the basis of the cross-border flow of fentanyl, despite the fact that Canada accounts for only 1% of U.S. fentanyl imports and has been working intensively to further reduce these volumes.
Canada's government is making historic investments in border security to arrest drug traffickers, take down transnational gangs, and end migrant smuggling.
These include thousands of new law enforcement and border security officers, aerial surveillance, intelligence and security operations, and the strongest border legislation in our history.
We will continue working with the United States to stop the scourge of fentanyl and save lives in both our countries.
While we will continue to negotiate with the United States on our trading relationship, the Canadian government is laser focused on what we can control: building Canada strong.
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The federal government, provinces and territories are working together to cut down trade barriers to build one Canadian economy. We are developing a series of major nation-building projects with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners.
Together, these initiatives have the potential to catalyse over half a trillion dollars of new investments in Canada.
Canadians will be our own best customer, creating more well-paying careers at home, as we strengthen and diversify our trading partnerships throughout the world.
We can give ourselves more than any foreign government can ever take away by building with Canadian workers and by using Canadian resources to benefit all Canadians.
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CBC
39 minutes ago
- CBC
'What took so long?' P.E.I. senator says Ottawa's bridge toll cut came a decade too late
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Montreal Gazette
42 minutes ago
- Montreal Gazette
Louise Penny chooses Ottawa instead of Washington for her latest novel's launch
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CBC
43 minutes ago
- CBC
P.E.I. hits record housing starts, but experts say more needed to restore affordability
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"We need to see some large-scale investments like that into our industry here in P.E.I. to be able to increase our capacity to build," Sanderson said. He added that governments must also prioritize targeted immigration strategies to attract skilled workers for the construction industry. 'The momentum has continued' Staff with Fusion Charlottetown — a non-profit based in P.E.I.'s capital that advocates for youth and young adults on issues such as housing affordability — the record-breaking year was a welcome development. The pace has continued. In the first two quarters of 2025, there have already been 751 housing starts — the most for that time period since 1973. "We're definitely pleased to see it over the past year," said Fusion Charlottetown's vice-president, Matt Pelletier. "What we're pleased to see is that the momentum has continued." Pelletier acknowledged that the 2,200 target is ambitious, but said it can be within reach. "With the right mechanisms, the right fiscal tools and the right alignment with land use, it's possible to do that again," he said. "It's going to require all orders of government coming together to make that happen." Incentives and policy changes needed Before the province tabled its 2025-26 operating budget, Fusion Charlottetown submitted a list of policy recommendations aimed at boosting the housing supply. These included encouraging apartment construction in urban areas and funding "housing-enabling infrastructure" such as roads and sewer systems, which are essential for making new housing developments possible. Fusion Charlottetown is also calling for the extension of rental construction sales tax rebates to affordable housing projects. In the fall of 2023, the federal government brought in legislation to remove the GST on new rental developments. Shortly after, the P.E.I. government followed suit by eliminating the provincial portion of the HST for new rental builds in hopes of spurring construction. Fusion Charlottetown wants to see those rebates expanded to include different forms of affordable housing, such as co-operative housing and affordable home ownership initiatives like Habitat for Humanity projects. "Creating a sales tax mechanism to allow for those sorts of units to be built would be favourable when it comes to creating affordable housing options," Pelletier said. Prince Edward Island is managing the housing crisis just about as well as anyone in the country. — Mike Moffatt, Missing Middle Initiative The organization is pushing for municipal policy changes too, like harmonizing building codes, and it's also advocating for Charlottetown to have a fast-track approval system for affordable housing projects. "In a lot of cases, the delays relating to those can contribute to the input costs of affordable housing projects, effectively undermining the affordability that they're trying to create," Pelletier said. Is 2,200 the right number? Housing policy expert Steve Pomeroy said it's important to look critically at the 2,200 figure and consider whether that many homes are really needed on P.E.I. Pomeroy, an industry professor at McMaster University and member of the Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative, said the CMHC's projections are a theoretical exercise focused only on supply. But he said the real challenge is ensuring affordability — and that won't be solved by supply alone. Developers are unlikely to build units that would lower their profits, leaving many new homes still out of reach for low-income residents, Pomeroy said. "So rather than just any kind of supply, we need to think about, how do we actually create supply of more affordably priced homes? Which means invoking the role of the non-market sector, non-profits and co-operatives who respond to different signals than the market does," he said. "Those are provided with subsidies from government… and they have a mission to address affordability." Pomeroy pointed to the broader need for more social housing across the country, citing a 2023 Scotiabank report that found just 3.5 per cent of Canada's total housing stock is social housing — half the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average of around seven per cent. P.E.I. stands out on social housing Despite Canada's lag in social housing, P.E.I. is making some progress. The province's housing strategy includes a $176-million investment over five years to establish 560 government-owned social housing units. In a statement to CBC News, the Department of Housing, Land and Communities said that by the end of the last fiscal year, 227 new social housing units were under design and/or construction. 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"Through these investments, the social housing registry was reduced to the smallest waitlist in well over a decade, with a low of 389 as of March 31, 2025," the statement read. A national report card, released by the Missing Middle Initiative at the University of Ottawa, recently evaluated provincial housing policies across Canada. P.E.I. received an A for construction of social housing, the highest grade in the country. "Prince Edward Island… came out with a plan to increase social housing that was particularly detailed — more detailed than we're seeing here in Ontario," said Missing Middle Initiative founding director Mike Moffatt.