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Prime Minister Mark Carney responded on Friday to U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of a 35 per cent tariff on some Canadian goods.
The 35 per cent tariff is an increase from a previously imposed 25 per cent duty and impacts goods not traded under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on free trade.
Those under CUSMA are exempt from the tariff.
Here is the full transcript of Carney’s response, posted on Friday to X.
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President Trump has announced that the United States will increase its tariffs to 35% on those Canadian exports that are not covered under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA.
While the Canadian government is disappointed by this action, we remain committed to CUSMA, which is the world’s second-largest free trade agreement by trading volume.
The U.S. application of CUSMA means that the U.S. average tariff rate on Canadian goods remains one of its lowest for all of its trading partners. Other sectors of our economy — including lumber, steel, aluminum, and automobiles — are, however, heavily impacted by U.S. duties and tariffs.
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For such sectors, the Canadian government will act to protect Canadian jobs, invest in our industrial competitiveness, buy Canadian, and diversify our export markets.
The United States has justified its most recent trade action on the basis of the cross-border flow of fentanyl, despite the fact that Canada accounts for only 1% of U.S. fentanyl imports and has been working intensively to further reduce these volumes.
Canada’s government is making historic investments in border security to arrest drug traffickers, take down transnational gangs, and end migrant smuggling.
These include thousands of new law enforcement and border security officers, aerial surveillance, intelligence and security operations, and the strongest border legislation in our history.
We will continue working with the United States to stop the scourge of fentanyl and save lives in both our countries.
While we will continue to negotiate with the United States on our trading relationship, the Canadian government is laser focused on what we can control: building Canada strong.
The federal government, provinces and territories are working together to cut down trade barriers to build one Canadian economy. We are developing a series of major nation-building projects with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners.
Together, these initiatives have the potential to catalyse over half a trillion dollars of new investments in Canada.
Canadians will be our own best customer, creating more well-paying careers at home, as we strengthen and diversify our trading partnerships throughout the world.
We can give ourselves more than any foreign government can ever take away by building with Canadian workers and by using Canadian resources to benefit all Canadians.
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