Canada avoids Trump's tariffs - for now
· BBC NewsJessica Murphy
BBC News, Toronto
After bracing for weeks for a trade war with the US, Canada has - for now - evaded tariffs that Donald Trump threatened to impose on the country as soon as he takes office.
But Trump said on Monday the tariffs on Canada and Mexico could come on 1 February as he ordered federal officials to review US trade relationships for any unfair practices - including relationships with Canada, Mexico and China.
The incoming president has pledged import duties of 25% on Canada and Mexico, as well as 10% on global imports and 60% on Chinese goods.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday: "'If the president does choose to proceed with tariffs, Canada will respond - and everything is on the table."
Canadian officials initially appeared relieved at the reprieve the review that Trump has ordered offered, but warned the tariff threat was still real.
Then in the Oval Office late in the evening, Trump told reporters he was considering 1 February as a date his administration might impose 25% levies on Canada and Mexico.
Canada is highly dependent on trade with the US, with roughly 75% of its exports heading south.
Trudeau, speaking to reporters on Tuesday morning, said there was "always going to be a certain amount of unpredictability and rhetoric coming out from this administration".
He said Canada offered the US "a safe, secure and reliable partner in an uncertain world".
In an appeal to Trump's promise of an American "golden age", Trudeau noted Canada is a source of commodities like energy and critical minerals the "American economy is going to need in order to grow".
In November, Trump said his administration would impose across -the-board tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods in an effort to force the countries to crack down on illegal immigration and drug smuggling into the US.
Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly last week had warned the tariffs could spark the "biggest trade war between Canada and the US in decades".
Ottawa is preparing counter-tariffs in response to the threat, reportedly worth billions of dollars.
Trudeau said he supports "the principle of dollar-for-dollar matching tariffs".
Members of Trudeau's cabinet are gathered in Quebec for two days of meetings focused on the US-Canada relationship.
Canadian officials say they will continue with their efforts to lobby US counterparts on the benefits of trade between the two nations, which totaled an estimated $909bn in 2022.
Canada, the US and Mexico renegotiated a trilateral free trade deal during Trump's first term in office.
The presidential memo Trump signed after his inauguration directs federal agencies to assess how that deal affects American "workers, farmers, ranchers, service providers, and other businesses".
It also asked the commerce and homeland security secretaries to assess the "unlawful migration and fentanyl flows" from Canada and Mexico.
That review is due on 1 April.
While both the northern and southern US borders have reported unlawful crossings and drug seizures, the numbers at the border with Canada are considerably lower than those at the Mexico border, according to official data.
In December, Canada promised to implement C$1.3bn ($900m; £700m) worth of new security measures along its US border, including strengthened surveillance and a joint "strike force" to target transnational organised crime.
Tariffs are a central part of Trump's economic vision - he sees them as a way of growing the US economy, protecting jobs and raising tax revenue.
But many economists have warned the policy could lead to higher prices for Americans and pain for companies hit by foreign retaliation, and slow.
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