EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a Village Media website devoted to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.
A trade war between the United States and Canada has been put on hold for another 30 days.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement in a statement posted to social media following two calls with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday.
In exchange, Canada has committed to appointing a “Fentanyl Czar,” will list cartels as terrorists, ensure “24/7 eyes on the border,” and launch a Canada-U.S. Joint Strike Force to deal with organized crime, drug trafficking and money laundering, Trudeau said
“I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl and we will be backing it with $200 million,” he added.
This appears to be in addition to the $1.3 billion in new border security measures the country has announced over the last month.
The U.S. was set to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods, with the exception of energy which would see tariffs of 10 per cent, starting Tuesday.
Canada, in retaliation, said it would impose 25 per cent tariffs on about $30 billion worth of American goods, with an additional $125-billion- worth of goods in three weeks time.
All these measures are now on pause.
The news comes hours after Mexico got a similar deal, 30 days of tariff relief in exchange for sending 10,000 troops to the border to stem the flow of fentanyl and drugs.
In a social media post of his own, Trump said he was “pleased” with the arrangement, but noted he is still waiting to see “whether or not a final economic deal with Canada can be structured.”
Doug Ford, Progressive Conservative leader and premier, said in a statement that Ontario will be pausing its retaliatory measures as well. This means that American alcohol will not be removed from the LCBO’s shelves and there will be no ban on American companies from provincial procurement.
It also means that the province’s $100-million contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink will not be cancelled, as Ford, who is also the chair of the Council of the Federation, announced earlier on Monday.
A spokesperson said the contract will proceed “for now.”
Ford was cautious in his response, saying that despite the month-long reprieve, “Canada and Ontario continue to stare down the threat of tariffs.”
“Whether it’s tomorrow, in a month or a year from now when we’re renegotiating the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, President Trump will continue to use the threat of tariffs to get what he wants,” he said.
“So long as our trading relationship with our largest trading partner is up in the air, we will continue to see many potential projects frozen and projects that were already under way put at risk.”
Editor's Note: This story was updated after publication to include comments from PC Leader Doug Ford and U.S. President Donald Trump.
