Canadian officials are pushing back on Donald Trump’s plan to impose additional tariffs on its country’s imports.
Kelly Geraldine Malone, Washington correspondent with independent news agency The Canadian Press, discusses how Canadians are approaching the chaos surrounding Trump’s slew of measures. After a lengthy meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump’s top trade officials on Thursday, Canadian representatives say they have a clearer understanding of the rationale behind Trump’s insistence on tariffs — not just on Canada but on the whole world. “Tariffs are now a global policy of the United States,” said David Paterson, Ontario’s representative in Washington. “And this is a historic change to global trading patterns, and [the Americans are] very aware of that.” Paterson, along with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman, and federal cabinet ministers, met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer — the point people on Trump’s trade agenda.
In an interview on Power & Politics, Paterson told host David Cochrane that the Canadians and Americans had a 90-minute meeting and the first half-hour was “a master class” from Lutnick in breaking down the U.S. position on tariffs. The focus of the U.S. government is dealing with its yearly deficit in federal spending, Paterson said. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the federal government ran a $1.83 trillion US deficit in the 2024 fiscal year.