Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said Canada must stay united against a threat by Donald Trump to impose tariffs but two major provinces quickly called on him to address the U.S. President-elect's concerns.
Trudeau, who is due to meet the premiers of the 10 provinces on Wednesday to discuss U.S. relations, often notes his Liberal government has four years' experience of dealing with the first Trump administration.
Trump said on Monday he would impose a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico until they clamped down on drugs, particularly fentanyl, and migrants crossing the border. Such a tariff would badly hit the economy of Canada, which sends 75% of all goods exports to the United States.
"This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on, and that's what we'll do," Trudeau told reporters. "One of the really important things is that we be all pulling together on this."
The premier of Ontario, the most populous province and the country's industrial heartland, said Trump had good reason to be worried about the security of the long shared frontier.
"Do we need to do a better job on our borders? 1,000 percent ... we do have to listen to the threat of too many illegals crossing the border," Doug Ford told reporters.
"We have to squash the illegal drugs, the illegal guns."
But Ford, who wants Trudeau to ditch the trilateral U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade deal in favor of a bilateral pact with the United States, also said any tariffs would hurt both countries.
Trump's comparison of Canada to Mexico when it came to threats to the United States was "the most insulting thing I have ever heard", he said.
In another early sign of strain, the premier of the oil-rich province of Alberta said late on Monday that Trump had valid concerns related to illegal activities at the shared border.
"We are calling on the federal government to work with the incoming administration to resolve these issues immediately, thereby avoiding any unnecessary tariffs on Canadian exports to the U.S.," Danielle Smith said in a social media post.
"The vast majority of Alberta's energy exports to the U.S. are delivered through secure and safe pipelines which do not in any way contribute to these illegal activities at the border," said Smith, whose relations with Trudeau are icy.
Former Liberal finance minister John Manley called for calm, noting Trump had yet to take power.
"Don't set your hair on fire yet. We know Donald Trump is a bit of an entertainer," he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. "You need to stroke his ego and you need to enable him to have some wins."
President Trump confirmed he is serious about a potential third term, despite constitutional limits, saying it is “far too early” to decide. While U.S. presidents are restricted to two terms, Trump allies are exploring ways to challenge this rule ahead of the 2028 election.
Moscow and Washington have initiated discussions on potential joint projects involving rare earth metals and other critical resources in Russia, according to Russia's special envoy on international economic and investment cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth emphasized Japan’s critical role in deterring Chinese aggression during a meeting with Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani in Tokyo on Sunday
Lithuanian and U.S. rescuers are working to recover a military vehicle submerged in a peat bog, where four U.S. soldiers have been missing for two days during a training exercise near the Belarus border.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Monday that a court's decision to bar her from office for misuse of European funds ruled her out of the 2027 presidential election, adding she had no confidence in an appeal being heard before the vote.
On March 31, 2025, European diplomats met in Madrid to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine and the need for Russia to agree to a ceasefire.
President Trump confirmed he is serious about a potential third term, despite constitutional limits, saying it is “far too early” to decide. While U.S. presidents are restricted to two terms, Trump allies are exploring ways to challenge this rule ahead of the 2028 election.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was banned from running for public office for five years after being convicted of embezzlement, ruling her out of the 2027 presidential race. She received a four-year prison sentence, with two years suspended, and a €100,000 fine. Le Pen plans to appeal.
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilots, monitoring a Chinese navy warship as it navigated Australian waters, were alerted to a live-fire exercise via a civilian radio broadcast, defense officials revealed on Tuesday.
A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar’s Sagaing region, followed by a 6.4-magnitude tremor, killing 2056 people and leaving 3,900 injured. The quake caused building collapses in Myanmar and Thailand, prompting emergency declarations and ongoing rescue efforts.
As the world shifts toward clean energy at an ever-accelerating pace, large economies are scrambling to secure reliable supply chains for rare earth minerals. These minerals, once seen as mere industrial components, have become a political tool in the global power struggle
Russian forces carried out a drone attack on Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, late Wednesday, injuring at least twenty one people and causing structural damage, according to Ukrainian officials.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Monday that a court's decision to bar her from office for misuse of European funds ruled her out of the 2027 presidential election, adding she had no confidence in an appeal being heard before the vote.
On March 31, 2025, European diplomats met in Madrid to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine and the need for Russia to agree to a ceasefire.
President Trump confirmed he is serious about a potential third term, despite constitutional limits, saying it is “far too early” to decide. While U.S. presidents are restricted to two terms, Trump allies are exploring ways to challenge this rule ahead of the 2028 election.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was banned from running for public office for five years after being convicted of embezzlement, ruling her out of the 2027 presidential race. She received a four-year prison sentence, with two years suspended, and a €100,000 fine. Le Pen plans to appeal.
Three of the four U.S. Army soldiers who went missing in Lithuania last week when their vehicle sunk in a peat bog have been found dead. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda expressed deep sorrow and stated that the search for the remaining soldier is ongoing.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Monday that a court's decision to bar her from office for misuse of European funds ruled her out of the 2027 presidential election, adding she had no confidence in an appeal being heard before the vote.
On March 31, 2025, European diplomats met in Madrid to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine and the need for Russia to agree to a ceasefire.
President Trump confirmed he is serious about a potential third term, despite constitutional limits, saying it is “far too early” to decide. While U.S. presidents are restricted to two terms, Trump allies are exploring ways to challenge this rule ahead of the 2028 election.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was banned from running for public office for five years after being convicted of embezzlement, ruling her out of the 2027 presidential race. She received a four-year prison sentence, with two years suspended, and a €100,000 fine. Le Pen plans to appeal.
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