President Donald Trump has given Canada and Mexico a one-month reprieve from punishing tariffs that were to go into effect today (Tuesday, Feb 4th, 2025)
In turn, the two countries have paused their plans for retaliation also set to go into effect. The decision to hold off on the tariffs came just hours after Trump held a phone call with the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, and then with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The first call to Trudeau came in the morning, the second conversation in the mid-afternoon. Shortly after, Trudeau posted this message on the social media platform X:
“Canada is implementing its 1.3-billion-dollar border plan announced in December, reinforcing the border with new helicopters, technology, and personnel. There will also be enhanced coordination with US partners and more resources to stop the flow of fentanyl. Nearly 10-thousand frontline personnel will be working to protect the border. In addition, Canada will appoint a Fentanyl Czar, list drug cartels as terrorists, monitor the border 24/7, and launch a Canada-US joint strike force to combat organized crime, fentanyl, and money laundering.”
David McGuinty, Canada’s minister for public safety had this to say.
“It’s very important to manage our relationship with the United States well. We’ve been doing it for decades. In fact, we’ve been doing it for 150 years. It’s very important to make sure that that border remains the longest undefended border in the world. If it spills over into economic considerations our US- Canada cabinet committee will deal with it,” McGuinty said.
There has been resistance in Canada in the past to list drug trafficking groups, as terrorists. But McGuinty says it’s something Ottawa has been looking at for some time.
“You have to look at the nature of the activities of cartels and the similarities that they share with terrorist groups. So, we took a long hard look at what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, the scourge that they’ve become, how vicious they can be, and we’ve made a tough decision. And this decision is we’ve got to move forward and give our law enforcement folks more access to powers, extraordinary powers, not granted easily, because we want to nip this in the bud,” McGuinty said.
Canada has paused its retaliation, and provinces too have put a hold on other measures they were sent to implement. The premier of Saskatchewan, Scott Moe, says the reprieve is a positive move for everyone.
“Not a permanent reprieve, but a 30-day reprieve which does provide us the opportunity to make our case with US policy and decision makers as to why there should not be tariffs on North American products as we venture to provide North American energy and food security,” Moe said.
While the official retaliation is on hold, many Canadians are still angry, and more and more are reading labels on store shelves to see where possible they can “buy Canadian”.
Jim Blanchard is a former Governor of Michigan and former US ambassador to Canada. Blanchard says the response from Canadians may have influenced Trump’s decision to pause tariffs.
“The pushback was so fast and so strong; he needed to get on the off-ramp right away. But I will say this, the long-term damage of US respect in Canada has been seriously damaged. The feelings that have been left there, the hurt and the anger, are not going away with some quick deal on some border guards on fentanyl,” Blanchard said.
Trump has said the reprieve will be at least 30 days. That means a ceasefire in a trade war that could still inflict economic pain on people on both sides of the border. Trump also said he’s still after some sort of final economic deal with Canada down the line.
But for now, most Canadians can let out a huge collective sigh of relief.