Canada vowed to respond with retaliatory tariffs if President Donald Trump slaps additional levies on Canadian goods as part of an expected announcement of sweeping new tariffs on Wednesday.
“We will respond to additional measures,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters on Tuesday. “We will put in place retaliatory measures if there are additional measures put against Canada tomorrow.”
Speaking to reporters minutes later, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated Trump’s plan to announce wide-ranging new tariffs on April 2, which Trump has dubbed “liberation day.”
“Our country has been one of the most open economies in the world and we have the best consumer base,” Leavitt said. “But too many foreign countries have their markets closed to our exports.”
The details of the forthcoming U.S. tariffs remain unknown.
When asked whether Trump would be open to negotiations with target countries about the tariffs, Leavitt said, “The president is always open to taking calls.”
The Trump administration last month imposed 25% tariffs on some goods from Canada. Initially, the tariffs applied to all Canadian goods, but a day later Trump issued a carve-out for goods compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, a free trade agreement.
In response to U.S. tariffs, Canada slapped a 25% retaliatory duty on $30 billion worth of goods and pledged additional measures.
Liberal leader Mark Carney speaks during a campaign stop, April 1, 2025, in Winnipeg, Canada.
Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP
Despite the trade turbulence on Tuesday, U.S. stocks rallied.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 30 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 0.8%.
Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on Monday that he had settled on a course of action for the fresh round of tariffs set to take effect on April 2, though he declined to offer details.
Additional U.S. tariffs could elicit countermeasures from trade partners, exacerbating global trade tensions that erupted in response to a previous set of tariffs issued by the Trump administration last month.
Europe has a “strong plan” to retaliate against Trump’s planned tariffs, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in a speech on Tuesday.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks as part of a plenary session at the European Parliament on April 1, 2025, in Strasbourg, eastern France.
Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images
“We will approach these negotiations from a position of strength. Europe holds a lot of cards, from trade to technology to the size of our market,” von der Leyen said.
Days earlier, Trump told reporters over the weekend that his tariffs could affect “all the countries.”
“The tariffs will be far more generous than those countries were to us, meaning they will be kinder than those countries were to the United States of America,” he said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
