Trump lashes out at Canada, promising major tariff hike and financial penalties that will be 'so big'

John Paul Tasker · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 11, 2025 10:15 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

U.S. President Donald Trump is lashing retired astatine Canada and utilizing immoderate of the strongest connection he's ever deployed against the one-time state and trading partner, vowing to ruin the state economically aft Ontario levied a surcharge connected U.S.-bound energy to deed backmost astatine his archetypal tranche of tariffs.

In a bid of societal media posts Tuesday morning, the time aft Ontario Premier Doug Ford's electricity levy took effect, Trump said helium volition marque Canada pay "a fiscal terms for this truthful large that it volition beryllium work astir successful History Books for galore years to come."

Trump upped the ante connected his 51st authorities taunts saying the lone mode for Canada to debar his attempts to torpedo the system is for the state to "become our cherished Fifty-First State."

"This would marque each Tariffs, and everything else, wholly disappear," helium claimed.

Trump said helium has already instructed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to enactment an further 25 per cent tariff connected each alloy and aluminum coming into the U.S. from Canada, bringing the full tariff connected those products to 50 per cent starting Wednesday.

He falsely claimed Canada is "ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD." Until Trump launched his commercialized war, astir Canada-U.S. commercialized was wholly tariff-free nether the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement the president himself negotiated and signed successful his archetypal term.

WATCH | Breaking down however Ford's program to enforce a levy connected energy could impact the U.S.: 

Trump's tariff rampage sent the U.S. banal marketplace into a tailspin yet again.

The S&P 500, which tracks the 500 largest publically traded American companies, is down 8 per cent successful the past period alone. The technology-heavy Nasdaq is disconnected 10 per cent.

Trump's erratic attack to commercialized and the system has sent banal traders into a panic, prompting a unreserved to merchantability equities fixed determination is truthful overmuch uncertainty with Canada, the U.S.'s largest customer.

Trump's refusal to regularisation retired a imaginable recession has lone made things worse.

"I hatred to foretell things similar that," Trump told Fox News implicit the weekend.

Trump besides threatened to substantially rise tariffs connected cars coming into the U.S. from Canada connected April 2 to effort and unopen down that cardinal manufacture connected this broadside of the border.

Just past week, Trump paused 25 per cent tariffs connected immoderate Canadian goods for different period aft getting pushback from American concern leaders who accidental the commercialized warfare is atrocious for fiscal markets.

But his determination to property up with targeted tariffs connected alloy and aluminum poses a large interest for Canada, fixed the past clip Trump imposed akin tariffs connected those metals, determination was a immense driblet successful Canadian exports, threatening jobs and businesses.

According to Statistics Canada data, aluminum exports dropped by roughly fractional successful 2019 arsenic a effect of Trump's commercialized enactment successful his archetypal term.