U.S. President Donald Trump’s long-promised “reciprocal” tariffs are set to be unveiled Wednesday, adding further uncertainty to the Canadian economy and global trade with the U.S.
Many unknowns remain on the new policy, which Trump has taken to calling “Liberation Day” for the U.S., including what rates the tariffs will be at and whether Canada could see some relief.
Trump and his administration also appear to have different views on how broad the policy will be. He told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that “all countries” will face the new tariffs — at least at first — after his top economic adviser Kevin Hassett suggested earlier this month they would focus on 10 to 15 countries with the worst trade imbalances.
A new set of tariffs would further rattle Canadian industries that rely on U.S. trade — particularly the auto sector, which is bracing for the return of blanket 25 per cent tariffs on Wednesday and a new 25 per cent levy on foreign-made vehicles and auto parts that begin a day later.
Here’s what we know so far about what Wednesday could bring.
What have Trump, White House officials said?
Trump has said he wants to impose import taxes, including “reciprocal” tariffs that would match the rates charged by other countries and account for other subsidies on foreign trade.
His goal, he says, is to drive investment and manufacturing back to the U.S. and make American consumers less reliant on foreign goods.
“We’re going to charge countries for doing business in our country and taking our jobs, taking our wealth, taking a lot of things that they’ve been taking over the years,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office last Wednesday.
“They’ve taken so much out of our country, friend and foe. And, frankly, friend has been oftentimes much worse than foe.”
Two days before that, however, Trump said “I may give a lot of countries breaks” after U.S. media reports, citing unnamed administration officials, reported the reciprocal tariffs may be far narrower and exempt some countries and specific sectors.
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News this month that the U.S. will give trading partner countries a reciprocal tariff number that reflects their own rates, non-tariff trade barriers, currency practice and other factors.
Yet he said those countries could avoid a “tariff wall” through negotiations or simply stopping those “unfair” practices.
“I’m optimistic that (on) April 2, some of the tariffs may not have to go on because a deal is pre-negotiated, or that once countries receive their reciprocal tariff number, that right after that they will come to us and want to negotiate it down,” Bessent said.
Trump appeared to back up that approach in his Air Force One comments Sunday.
“You’d start with all countries,” he told reporters.
Yet Bessent said in that same Fox News interview the focus would be on the “Dirty 15,” or 15 per cent of countries with the biggest trade surpluses and high tariff and non-tariff barriers.
Hassett told Fox Business this month the focus would be on between 10 and 15 countries, without naming them.
If the focus is on trade deficits, Canada could end up being included on that list, as its trade deficit with the U.S. is among the highest of all trading partners at over US$60 billion. That deficit is mainly due to energy exports from Canada, which when removed flips the trade balance into a surplus for the U.S.
However, Trump has also suggested the “reciprocal” tariffs may not fully match the rates set by other countries on U.S. trade.
“It’ll be, in many cases, less than the tariff that they’ve been charging us for decades,” he told reporters at the White House on Thursday. “So I think people are going to be very surprised. … We’re trying to keep it somewhat conservative.
“We’re going to treat people very nicely, we’re going to treat other countries very, very nicely, and I think it’s going to have a very positive effect on everybody — including those other countries.”
What does this all mean for Canada?
Even if Canada is not included in the reciprocal tariff policy, Wednesday also marks the deadline for Trump’s temporary exemption of auto parts and other goods traded under North American free trade rules from 25 per cent tariffs, which were imposed on March 4 to pressure Canada and Mexico to take action on fentanyl trafficking.
Canada retaliated against those tariffs with a first round of retaliatory duties on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods, and targeted another nearly $30 billion of American imports in response to Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum.
Yet after Trump announced his one-month suspension of the March 4 tariffs, Ottawa paused a larger, $125-billion round of retaliatory levies until Wednesday to allow for negotiations with the Trump administration.
Those retaliatory tariffs have not been taken off the table, and Prime Minister Mark Carney has vowed to also respond to new 25 per cent tariffs on foreign-made cars, light trucks and auto parts that will start Thursday.
Carney, who is running as Liberal Party leader in the federal election, has not specified how exactly Canada will retaliate, but the Prime Minister’s Office said after a call between Carney and Trump on Friday that a response is coming.
“The Prime Minister informed the President that his government will implement retaliatory tariffs to protect Canadian workers and our economy, following the announcement of additional U.S. trade actions on April 2, 2025,” a readout of the call said.
Following that call, Trump appeared to soften his rhetoric towards Canada, who he has repeatedly said should be a U.S. state and is “one of the worst” to deal with on trade.
“I’m not referring to Canada, but many other countries have been taking advantage of us,” he said while talking about Wednesday’s tariff policy announcement.
“We had a very good talk, the prime minister and myself, and I think things are going to work out very well between Canada and the United States.”
Carney said he and Trump “agreed to begin comprehensive negotiations about a new economic and security relationship between our two sovereign countries immediately following the federal election.”
Yet he has repeatedly stressed that Canada must fundamentally reimagine its economy in response to Trump’s tariffs and threats of annexation.
“We are facing the biggest crisis of our lifetimes, and we are going to build our way out of it,” Carney said at a campaign event Monday.
Federal ministers and premiers, including Ontario Premier Doug Ford, have meanwhile continued to push for exemptions and relief in talks with the Trump administration, including U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
“I think he has an idea, or maybe he doesn’t. That’s even scarier if he doesn’t,” Ford said last Thursday when asked if Lutnick had shared any details about what is coming Wednesday.
—with files from the Canadian Press and the Associated Press