Live updates: Trump considering delaying tariffs on auto industry by 30 days; expected to speak with Trudeau today

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1:49 p.m.

Canadian auto sector given one-month exemption

– Laura Stone

The United States is exempting automakers from tariffs for a month, the White House confirmed Wednesday.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt read a statement from President Donald Trump confirming the pause.

“We spoke with the big three automakers. We are going to give a one-month exemption on any autos coming through USMCA. Reciprocal tariffs will still go into effect on April 2, but at the request of the companies associated with USMCA, the President is giving them an exemption for one month so they are not at an economic disadvantage,” Ms. Leavitt said.

She said the three companies Mr. Trump spoke with were Stellantis, Ford and General Motors.

“They requested the call, they made the ask, and the President is happy to do it.”

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1:30 p.m.

Trump takes to social media following talk with Trudeau

– Laura Stone

In a Wednesday post on Truth Social, U.S. President Donald Trump said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called him to ask what could be done about tariffs.

The President said many Americans have died from fentanyl from Canada and Mexico – “and nothing has convinced me that it has stopped.”

“He said it’s gotten better, but I said, ‘That’s not good enough,’” Mr. Trump wrote, adding that the call ended in a “somewhat friendly manner!”

Mr. Trump then weighed into Canadian politics.

“He was unable to tell me when the Canadian Election is taking place, which made me curious, like, what’s going on here? I then realized he is trying to use this issue to stay in power. Good luck Justin!”

Mr. Trudeau has announced his resignation, and his replacement as Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party will be named Sunday. At a news conference Tuesday, he said it will be up to his successor to determine when his final day in office will be, but it should happen “reasonably quickly.”

In a separate post, Mr. Trump said Mr. Trudeau, whom he referred to as Governor – as he has done in the past when musing about Canada becoming the 51st state – caused the problems the U.S. is experiencing “because of his Weak Broder Policies,” which he claimed have allowed fentanyl and “illegal aliens” to pour into the United States.

“The Policies are responsible for the death of many people!” he wrote.

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1:19 p.m.

Trudeau and Trump talk trade and fentanyl

– Steven Chase

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump for about 50 minutes Wednesday, and while no specific agreement came out of the conversation, talks are continuing, a source familiar with the matter said.

The source said that if a deal materializes it may include a reprieve from U.S. tariffs for the auto sector.

The Globe and Mail is not identifying the source because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Trudeau were joined on the call by Vice-President JD Vance and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

The entire discussion was about trade and fentanyl, the source said, adding that Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Mr. Lutnick have matters to follow up on.

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12:48 p.m.

Jack Daniel’s maker says Canada pulling U.S. alcohol off stores ‘worse than tariff’

– Reuters

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Jack Daniel’s maker Brown Forman’s CEO Lawson Whiting said on Wednesday Canadian provinces taking American liquor off store shelves was “worse than a tariff” and a “disproportionate response” to levies imposed by the Trump administration.

Several Canadian provinces have taken U.S. liquor off store shelves as part of retaliatory measures against President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

“I mean, that’s worse than a tariff, because it’s literally taking your sales away, (and) completely removing our products from the shelves,” Whiting said on a post-earnings call.

Canada on Tuesday also imposed 25-per-cent tariffs on goods imported from the U.S., including wine, spirits, and beer.

Whiting, however, said that Canada accounted for only 1 per cent of their total sales and could withstand the hit.

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12:43 p.m.

Doug Ford says he had a ‘good conversation’ with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick

– Jeff Gray

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he had a “good conversation” with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday.

In a brief comment to reporters before heading into a cabinet meeting Wednesday, the Premier said he would have more to say after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump.

According to two senior government sources, Mr. Lutnick cast the tariffs as part of a negotiation toward a trade deal.

He also urged Mr. Ford to “stand down” on retaliating against the U.S., the sources said, something Mr. Ford rejected.

The Globe and Mail is not identifying the sources as they were not authorized to speak publicly about internal discussions.

Mr. Lutnick also told Fox Business on Tuesday that he had spoken with Canadian and Mexican officials and that Mr. Trump may announce a compromise on the tariffs on Wednesday.

But in an interview with Ottawa talk radio station 580 CFRA Wednesday morning, Mr. Ford rejected the idea of any compromise. “We want zero tariffs. We don’t want half the amount of tariffs.”

He said Canada should maintain “dollar-for-dollar” countertariffs and repeated his threat to cut off Ontario power exports to the U.S. if the dispute continues.

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12:32 p.m.

Shoppers will see some food prices rise because of tariffs, but not all at once

– The Canadian Press

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Now that Canada and the U.S. are in a trade war, consumers can expect some prices to rise at the grocery store — but not on all products, and not all at once.

Gary Sands of the Federation of Independent Grocers says stores are already getting price increase requests from some of their suppliers.

After U.S. President Donald Trump enacted sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods Tuesday, Canada responded with tariffs of its own on a broad range of U.S. imports.

These include food products like orange juice, peanut butter, alcohol and coffee.

University of Guelph food economy professor Mike Von Massow says once Canada’s second round of retaliatory tariffs comes into play later this month, the effects will likely be more pronounced at the grocery store.

The Canadian government says the second round would include fruits and vegetables, beef, pork and dairy.

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12:19 p.m.

Trump held call with GM, Ford CEOs on potential tariff delay

– Reuters

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U.S. President Donald Trump held a call Tuesday with the CEOs of General Motors and Ford and the chair of Stellantis to discuss the potential of delaying tariffs on North American-built vehicles by 30 days, two sources told Reuters.

Automakers have offered to boost U.S. auto investments but want certainty about tariff and environmental policies, the sources added.

GM CEO Mary Barra, Ford CEO Jim Farley along with Ford executive chairman Bill Ford and Stellantis chair John Elkann told part in the call. The automakers have urged Trump to waive 25-per-cent tariffs on Mexico and Canada on vehicles that comply with the 2020 U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s rules of origin.

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12:12 p.m.

Workers and businesses in tariff-hit industries can expect support, employment minister says

– Nojoud Al Mallees

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Employment Minister Steven MacKinnon says the federal government is ready to support workers and businesses affected by the trade war with the U.S. but is holding off on rolling anything out until the situation stabilizes.

“The Government of Canada will want to know exactly what it is the U.S. has on its mind before coming forward with what will be very serious and very significant proposals to protect businesses and workers,” he said Wednesday at a news conference.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller suggested Monday that one million jobs could be at risk in a trade war. Mr. MacKinnon said the government has done modelling on the impact of tariffs on employment but doesn’t want to speculate.

BMO said Tuesday that if tariffs remain in place for one year, Canada is at risk of a moderate recession and the unemployment rate could rise to 8 per cent, up from 6.6 per cent in January.

Read more about how Canada could face a major economic downturn in the U.S. trade war.

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12:01 p.m.

’We are Canadian’: Patriotic video celebrates Canada and responds to America’s threats

– Jana G. Pruden

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Jeff Douglas, who rose to fame as “Joe” in the iconic Molson Canadian rant commercial, has released a video responding to America’s threats against Canada.

Mr. Douglas said the video was produced by an anonymous collective of Canadian creatives and advertising professionals, all of whom donated their services.

“These are professionals who typically are competitors, coming together, offering what they have, for a common goal,” he said by e-mail.

“It’s been a very humbling thing to witness and be part of and, I think, a good example of what we need to see across the country in the months ahead. No logos, no brands … the client for this one is Canada.”

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11:46 a.m.

Peter Navarro tells Trudeau to tone it down

– Laura Stone

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Donald Trump’s trade adviser cautioned Justin Trudeau to tone it down Wednesday and accused the Prime Minister of disrespecting the President as the U.S. launched a trade war against Canada.

Mr. Navarro appeared on CNN to discuss Washington’s decision to slap 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods.

He linked the tariffs to fentanyl smuggling, as Mr. Trump has repeatedly done, even though the President has also characterized them as economic policies.

Responding to Mr. Trudeau’s remarks that the tariffs aren’t about drugs, Mr. Navarro accused Canada of allowing Mexican cartels to embed themselves across the country.

“I think Mr. Trudeau, it would be really useful if he just tones stuff down,” he said.

He also criticized the Prime Minister for referring to the President as “Donald” during his press conference Tuesday.

“I watched the conference yesterday with Mr. Trudeau. He’s calling the President dumb. He’s calling him Donald, instead of respectfully the President,” Mr. Navarro said.

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11:15 a.m.

Canadian bankers worry retail customers could be hardest hit by tariffs

– Stefanie Marotta

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Bank of Nova Scotia chief risk officer Phil Thomas says retail banking customers could take the hardest hit if the United States prolongs its trade war with Canada.

At a conference held by Royal Bank of Canada Wednesday, Scotiabank’s head of risk said the lender is scanning its portfolio of customers across personal, commercial and corporate banking for those most impacted by tariffs. He said job losses caused by tariffs will determine whether retail customers are able to absorb trade war shocks.

“What keeps me awake at night will be the Canadian retail consumer,” Mr. Thomas said.

In recent years, Canada’s banks have been setting aside more provisions for credit losses – the funds lenders reserve to cover potential loan defaults – as a buffer against higher interest rates and a slowing economy.

During first quarter earnings that ended Jan. 31, the lenders adjusted their provisions slightly to account for the uncertainty prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, but reserves for the year ahead will depend on the duration of the trade war.

“This is where unemployment starts to become the catchword for the industry and for us more broadly,” Mr. Thomas said. “Small businesses: Will they start laying off people because tariffs are impacting their business directly? And mid-market commercial. These will be the clients that we’ll be very active with in terms of what support they need from the bank.”

Read more about how a trade war will affect Canada’s biggest banks.

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10:53 a.m.

Ottawa adds measures to guard against ‘predatory’ investments by non-Canadian companies

– Joe Castaldo

The federal government is updating criteria for reviewing foreign investment and will now include measures to guard against “predatory” acquisitions of economically important domestic businesses by non-Canadian companies.

The changes come one day after the United States implemented steep tariffs on Canada, which responded with retaliatory levies of its own. Economists widely expect tariffs to send Canada into a recession.

Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in a statement Wednesday that the valuations of Canadian companies could fall because of the trade chaos, leaving them vulnerable to “opportunistic or predatory investment behaviour by non-Canadians.”

Guidelines for the Investment Canada Act, which is used to review significant foreign investments for economic benefits and national security implications, will now include the “potential of the investment to undermine Canada’s economic security through the enhanced integration of the Canadian business with the economy of a foreign state,” according to Innovation, Science and Economic Development. “In an increasingly geopolitically fractured world, Canada is facing more frequent threats to its national security through economic means.”

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10:45 a.m.

Canada’s premiers strike back against Trump’s tariffs

– Jeff Gray

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Canadian premiers banned U.S. booze from their liquor-store shelves, barred American companies from government contacts and floated cutting off supplies of power, nickel, uranium or potash, calling U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs a betrayal of a long-time ally.

Provincial leaders pulled the trigger on retaliation plans many of them had announced weeks ago – while expressing support for Ottawa’s move to push back with staged tariffs of its own.

What to know about the first day of the trade war

In addition to moves aimed at striking back at the U.S., Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec are among the provinces that have pledged to bring in tax deferrals, tax cuts or direct aid to businesses expected to be reeling from the blow.

The provinces appeared united in their condemnation of U.S. tariffs. But divisions persisted over whether to use energy as a future bargaining chip, with Saskatchewan’s Premier rejecting calls to impose restrictions on potash and uranium, which some of his counterparts insisted were necessary.

“I think we should hit them right where it hurts,” Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said.

Read more about the premiers’ strike back against Trump.

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10:37 a.m.

Canadians cancel U.S. travel plans amid anger over tariffs

– The Canadian Press

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Airlines and travel companies are seeing bookings to the United States plummet as Canadians rethink their plans amid anger toward U.S. President Donald Trump as well as a weak loonie.

Travel agency Flight Centre Travel Group Canada says February bookings to American cities dropped 40 per cent from the same month in 2024, while one in five customers cancelled their trips to the U.S. over the past three months.

Air Canada announced last month it would reduce flights by 10 per cent to Florida, Las Vegas and Arizona in March — usually go-to hot spots during spring break season.

WestJet also says there has been a shift in bookings from the U.S. to other sun destinations such as Mexico and the Caribbean.

The loonie, which has hovered around 70 cents US for the past few months, has also given pause to travellers looking to stretch their budget.

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10:26 a.m.

Auto stocks slightly recovering this morning after Trump tariffs

– Reuters

Carmakers Ford rose 3.2 per cent, General Motors added 4.8 per cent and Tesla gained 1.8 per cent, after logging sharp declines in the previous session.

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10:15 a.m.

Trudeau and Trump expected to talk 11 a.m. ET: source

– Steven Chase

U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are scheduled to speak late Wednesday morning, the day after the United States imposed 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, a source familiar with the matter said.

It’s expected the two men would talk by 11 a.m. ET, the source said.

The Globe and Mail agreed not to name the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Mr. Trump imposed the tariffs, including lower rates of 10 per cent on energy and critical minerals, after alleging Canada and Mexico did not do enough to stop a flow of fentanyl into the United States. The punitive levies threaten to disrupt $1-trillion in annual two-way trade between Canada and the United States.

Canada responded to Mr. Trump by announcing retaliatory tariffs on $30-billion of U.S. goods, with tariffs on a further $125-billion to follow in several weeks.

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9:45 a.m.

U.S. to make Canada, Mexico tariff announcement on Wednesday, Lutnick says

– Laura Stone

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U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says President Donald Trump’s administration is expected to announce a new tariff plan on Wednesday, which could offer relief for some sectors such as the auto industry, as the fallout from the trade war with Canada and Mexico continues.

The President is also scheduled to speak with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday, according to U.S. reports, but the Prime Minister’s Office has not yet confirmed.

Mexico’s government may reach out to Canada and other countries about the U.S. imposition of tariffs, the nation’s President said on Wednesday.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said she is tentatively set to have a phone call with Mr. Trump on Thursday morning about the new tariffs on Mexico and Canada.

Appearing on Bloomberg Television on Wednesday, Mr. Lutnick said the President is thinking about easing tariffs on some industries, such as the auto sector.

“The President is listening to the offers from Mexico and Canada. He’s thinking about trying to do something in the middle,” Mr. Lutnick said. “I think early this afternoon or this afternoon, we expect to make an announcement and my thinking is it’s going to be somewhere in the middle.”

He added that if countries have complied with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and include a certain amount of U.S. content in their products, they can avoid tariffs.

He also said officials in Canada are working “really hard” with Homeland Security to address the President’s concerns about the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.

“Remember, this is not a trade war. This is a drug war,” he said.

Mr. Lutnick said that reciprocal tariffs are coming on April 2, adding that next month the “bigger trade picture” will be examined.

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7:18 a.m.

Germany rips up its debt brake to revive stagnant economy as Trump’s trade war rages on

– Eric Reguly

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Donald Trump’s inglorious and savage economic revolution has hit Germany — but in a positive way.

On Tuesday night, Friedrich Merz, the chancellor-in-waiting, struck an extraordinary, even shocking, deal to scrap Germany’s “debt brake,” a hangover from the long era of the Angela Merkel.

She was chancellor of Europe’s biggest economy from 2005 until 2021. One of her signature economic moves was to lock her country into a fiscal straightjacket that put a tight cap on budget deficits in the name spending sobriety; federal borrowing was limited to a mere 0.35 per cent of GDP.

The result was massive under-investment in infrastructure and public assets, from digital networks and railways to roads and weapons. Visitors to Europe’s richest economy were often unpleasantly suprised by the shabby bridges and tunnels.

Along came Mr. Trump, who was highly critical of Germany’s miserly defence spending and launched a global trade war that could crimp German exports of cars, machine tool, pharmaceuticals, chemical and other products to the United States. Mr. Merz, the leader of the conservative CDU/CSU alliance that placed first in last month’s election, responded by striking a deal with the rival Social Democrats to scrap the constitutional debt brake and open the spending spigots, which will go to parliament for approval.

The German and wider European markets cheered the idea of Germany opening its wallet to revive its stagnant economy and bolster is armed forces, allowing the country, perhaps, to deliver fresh weapons to Ukraine. Economists at Deutsche Bank described Mr. Merz’s move as “one of the most historic paradigm shifts in German postwar history,” adding that “the speed at which this is happening and the magnitude of the prospective fiscal expansion is reminiscent of German reunification.”

Germany’s DAX stock index rose almost 3.5 per cent in morning trading. The euro rose against the dollar, and German borrowing costs surged on the prospect of greater government borrowing.

Greater defence spending in itself will not make the German economy more competitive or productive. Such spending has “low fiscal multipliers,” as economist say. But it will deliver a temporary sugar rush. The real benefit will come from infrastructure spending, which will benefit the wider economy over the medium- and long-term.

Watch economists upgrade their GDP forecasts for Germany. Thanks in good part to Mr. Trump, Germany is finally dragging itself out of its economic coma.

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7:14 a.m.

Premarket: TSX futures rise as Trump officials consider tariff relief

– Reuters

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Futures tied to Canada’s main stock index climbed on Wednesday following a challenging two-day decline, amid news of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration contemplating easing the stringent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports.

By 6:32 a.m. ET, futures for March on the S&P/TSX index had risen 0.43 per cent.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index tumbled 1.7 per cent by the close on Tuesday, settling at 24,572. This marked its second consecutive day of significant losses and its steepest decline since December 18.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday the government was considering easing the 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports to products that comply with the trade pact negotiated with the two nations during Trump’s first term.

The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.

The day range on the loonie was 69.20 US cents to 69.56 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.51 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, slid 0.67 per cent to 105.03, hitting a three-month low on trade tensions.

The euro rose 0.47 per cent to US$1.0677. The British pound gained 0.25 per cent to US$1.2827.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.243 per cent ahead of the North American opening bell.

Read more about what every Canadian investor needs to know today.

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4:30 a.m.

China projects calm as U.S. tariffs sow chaos globally

– James Griffiths

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As U.S. President Donald Trump addressed an angrily divided Congress on Tuesday evening, across the world in China, the scene was a marked contrast, with the country’s leaders gathering in Beijing to project calm and unity in the face of an escalating trade war.

Concurrent with Mr. Trump’s address, in which he angrily defended his policy of imposing stringent tariffs against the country’s three largest trading partners — Canada, Mexico and China — Chinese Premier Li Qiang stood before the Great Hall of the People to hail the resilience of the country’s economy in the face of an “increasingly complex and severe external environment.”

“The underlying trend of long-term economic growth has not changed and will not change,” Mr. Li said in opening the annual session of the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp parliament. “The giant ship of China’s economy will continue to cleave the waves and sail steadily toward the future.”

Ahead of his speech, Beijing unveiled an annual growth target of “around 5 per cent.” This is the same as last year, despite the challenges posed by Mr. Trump’s tariffs and structural issues facing the Chinese economy, including a property bubble, local government debt and a growing demographic challenge.

Chinese state media echoed Mr. Li’s defiance, with a piece in the state-run China Daily saying the country “stays strong in the face of U.S. tariff wars.”

“While Washington’s trade policies strain traditional alliances, Beijing is leveraging its economic initiatives to attract new partners,” author Shan Yuexing wrote. “The global balance of power is shifting, and the United States risks finding itself increasingly isolated in a trade war of its own making.”

Read more about China’s response to Trump’s Congress speech.

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12 a.m.

Trump pledges ‘dominant’ civilization as he takes aim at Canada, Mexico in Congress speech

– Laura Stone and Nathan VanderKlippe

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U.S. President Donald Trump took aim at Canada and Mexico in a highly partisan and divisive address to Congress in which he pledged tariffs against America’s allies and promised an economic resurgence for his country in a speech that was at times interrupted by jeers from Democrats.

In a speech lasting longer than 90 minutes that touched on cost-of-living, government waste, border security and social issues, Mr. Trump touted his administration’s record and vowed to bring a “common sense revolution” to the United States.

Mr. Trump, who on Tuesday imposed 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods, said the current trade practices are unfair and the U.S. won’t allow it anymore.

“Much has been said over the last three months about Mexico and Canada. But we have very large deficits with both of them,“ Mr. Trump said.

“We pay subsidies to Canada and to Mexico of hundreds of billions of dollars. And the United States will not be doing that any longer.”

Mr. Trump repeated his pledges to reclaim the Panama Canal and told the people of Greenland: “And, if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America.”

Read more about Trump’s speech to Congress.