U.S. President Donald Trump and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney talk during a family photo at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, June 16, 2025.
Amber Bracken | Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday raised tariffs on Canadian imports to 35%, effective Aug. 1, complaining that Ottawa had retaliated with duties against Washington.
“Instead of working with the United States, Canada retaliated with its own Tariffs,” Trump said to Mark Carney, prime minister of Canada, in a letter posted on Truth Social.
He attributed fentanyl as a reason for that rate in the letter: “If Canada works with me to stop the flow of Fentanyl, we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter.”
A total of 43 pounds of the drug was seized at the northern border during 2024 with an additional 58 pounds having been confiscated there so far this year, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Responding to Trump’s announcement, Carney said in a post on X that “Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl in North America. We are committed to continuing to work with the United States to save lives and protect communities in both our countries.”
“The Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses. We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1.”
The 35% tariffs will be separate from all sectoral tariffs, Trump said, warning that the duty might be increased, if Canada retaliated. Canada is subject to Trump’s 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, 25% tariffs on autos, and faces a 50% levy on copper shipments starting Aug. 1.
Other imports from Canada into the U.S. currently attract a 25% levy that Trump imposed earlier this year over the country’s alleged role in the flow of fentanyl, with exemptions for those in compliance with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Energy imports from Canada are subject to a lower 10% levy.
“If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 35% that we charge,” Trump said Thursday. “Goods transshipped to evade this higher tariff will be subject to that higher tariff.”
Trump indicated that the tariff rates in future will depend on how Washington’s relationship with Ottawa pans out, while mentioning that his country faced challenges from Canada that went beyond fentanyl.
“[Canada] has many Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, which cause unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States … The Trade Deficit is a major threat to our Economy and, indeed, our National Security!”
Thursday’s letter came after the two countries agreed to resume the trade talks on June 29 and to work on hammering out a deal by July 21, according to a statement from the Department of Finance Canada.
Trump had threatened to end all trade discussions with Canada, one of its largest trading partners, over Ottawa’s “digital services tax” on American firms. Canada withdrew that tax in order to restart trade talks with Washington.
In response to Trump’s duties, Ottawa had also imposed 25% tariffs on non-USMCA complaint vehicles from the U.S. and a list of American exports including steel, aluminum, computers, apparels and food earlier this year. The countermeasures, Canada said in March, would stay “until the U.S. eliminates its tariffs against Canadian steel and aluminum products.”
U.S. total goods trade with Canada was $761.8 billion in 2024, with Washington’s deficit standing at $62 billion last year, according to U.S. Census data. In the first five months this year, the U.S. deficit in goods trade with Canada rose 9.8% year on year to $25.6 billion.
Separately, Trump told NBC news Thursday that he intends to impose blanket tariffs of 15% or 20% on most trade partners, up from the current 10%.
