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Trump’s 50% tariffs are set to hit Canada in hours. There’s still no deal

Click to play video: 'Trump’s 50% tariffs set to hit Canada at midnight, officials continue efforts to secure trade deal'
Trump’s 50% tariffs set to hit Canada at midnight, officials continue efforts to secure trade deal
The clock is ticking towards U.S. President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs deadline, and Canadian officials are still working to reach a trade agreement. Reggie Cecchini is in Washington with the latest.

There are fewer than 12 hours to go before a fresh round of steep, 50 per cent tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump hit Canada and officials are facing down the clock to secure a trade deal before midnight.

Unless a trade deal is reached, a fresh round of sweeping 50 per cent tariffs will go into effect.

The Prime Minister’s Office said late Monday that Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump spoke by phone about the ongoing negotiations. Neither side has disclosed details of the discussion.

Carney was in St. John’s, N.L., on Monday, where he told reporters in French that the trade talks with the U.S. were “delicate” and “intense.”

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Ottawa’s efforts are being led by Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and chief negotiator Janice Charette, who are in Washington, D.C., trying to work out a deal with their American counterparts.

Click to play video: 'Pierre Poilievre says Carney’s approach to U.S. trade negotiations has ‘failed demonstrably’'
Pierre Poilievre says Carney’s approach to U.S. trade negotiations has ‘failed demonstrably’

What industry groups say

Any deal with the United States should include assurances of future trade certainty, said John Boscariol, partner in the international trade and investment law firm at McCarthy Tétrault.

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“What we should be looking for is some assurance that the Trump administration is not going to randomly hit us with additional tariffs on an arbitrary basis,” he said.

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Unless a deal is reached, the impact of the tariffs will be felt by small businesses across Canada, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said.

“We are hoping something will happen. Maybe those tariffs will be postponed for a few weeks to give time for both countries to come together,” said CFIB vice president Jasmin Guenette.

The Section 338 tariffs would affect nearly $28 billion in annual Canadian exports to the United States, said Dennis Darby, president and CEO of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters.

“What makes these tariffs particularly damaging is that many of these products had previously benefited from tariff-free access under CUSMA,” he said.

With lumber emerging as a sticking point between the U.S. and Canada, the new tariffs would be “another significant hit” for the forestry sector, said Derek Nighbor, president of the Forest Producers Association.

Click to play video: 'Some companies are holding off making major plans for possible new round of U.S. tariffs'
Some companies are holding off making major plans for possible new round of U.S. tariffs

Trade talks intensify

LeBlanc and Charette met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick at the U.S. Department of Commerce on Monday afternoon, LeBlanc’s office said.

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This was the sixth meeting between LeBlanc and Greer in the last three weeks, as officials hope to present a draft deal to Carney and Trump for their approval before Wednesday’s tariff deadline.

Trump has vowed to hit Canada with new sweeping 50 per cent tariffs on a wide range of goods in response to what the U.S. calls “discriminatory” measures, including boycotts by Canadian provinces of American alcohol in response to the U.S. trade war launched in early 2025.

Trump signed three executive orders last month, each one using a different justification for the new tariff: the provincial and territorial boycotts on American alcohol products, Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S.-made vehicles and auto parts, and quotas on American dairy imports under Canada’s supply management system.

In early 2025, numerous Canadian provinces removed U.S. alcohol from their shelves in response to Trump’s trade war and threats to make Canada the “51st state.”

— with files from Global’s Mackenzie Gray

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