{"id":15059,"date":"2025-02-04T08:38:39","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T08:38:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/04\/finance-minister-hopeful-for-end-to-tariff-war-while-trump-and-trudeau-have-yet-to-speak-directly-national\/"},"modified":"2025-02-04T08:38:39","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T08:38:39","slug":"finance-minister-hopeful-for-end-to-tariff-war-while-trump-and-trudeau-have-yet-to-speak-directly-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/04\/finance-minister-hopeful-for-end-to-tariff-war-while-trump-and-trudeau-have-yet-to-speak-directly-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Finance Minister \u2018hopeful\u2019 for end to tariff war, while Trump and Trudeau have yet to speak directly – National"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Long simmering trade issues between Canada and the United States have now blown up into a full-blown tariff war. \u00a0Starting Tuesday, President Donald Trump\u2019s tariff threats<\/a> will kick in, hitting Canadian goods sent south of the border with a 25 per cent tariff. Canadian energy was spared slightly, with tariffs of 10 per cent.<\/p>\n

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A few hours after Trump\u2019s order was official, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau<\/a> hit back, slapping 25 per cent tariffs on $155 billion worth of American goods shipped to Canada<\/a> \u2014 on items ranging from orange juice to household appliances.<\/p>\n

Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc was at Trudeau\u2019s side for the announcement, and as chair of the recently formed Cabinet Committee on Canada-U.S. relations, he\u2019s been inside many of the trade negotiations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not seeking to escalate this. We were careful,\u201d LeBlanc told The West Block<\/em>, \u201cThe tariff is at 25 per cent. That\u2019s the rate that (Trump) chose.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The tariffs Canada is imposing will be stepped up gradually. Tuesday will bring about an initial step of $30 billion, largely on consumer products that the minister said Canadians would have non-American alternatives for.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf you\u2019re buying a washing machine made in the United States,\u201d he said, \u201cthere are some that might be made in Korea or Europe that could be substitutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next step will bring an additional $125-billion worth of goods, from passenger vehicles to beef pork and dairy. Those are expected to kick in after a 21-day public comment period and further expected talks between Washington and Ottawa.<\/p>\n

LeBlanc said none of the discussions up to this point have been directly between Trump and Trudeau. He explained, \u201cthere are discussions between various ministers,\u201d but not between the two heads of state. Who did LeBlanc blame the lack of communication on? \u201cIf the president hasn\u2019t scheduled the call with the prime minister yet,\u201d LeBlanc said, \u201cthe White House could perhaps explain why he hasn\u2019t done that.\u201d<\/p>\n