Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his call the day prior with President Donald Trump, which didn’t result in an agreement on tariffs, had been “colourful.”
“I can confirm that it was a colourful call. It was also a very substantive call,” Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa on March 6.
Trudeau had been asked about a Wall Street Journal article that cited an anonymous source saying the call between the two leaders had grown “heated” and included “profanity.”
Trudeau said in French that “calls with Donald are always interesting,” while adding there are ongoing conversations with the Trump administration, but nothing to officially announce on tariffs.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on March 6 there could be tariff exemptions granted for goods and services covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) free trade deal.
Trudeau said that Lutnick’s comments “aligns with some of the conversations that we have been having with administration officials.”
“I’m going to wait for an official agreement to talk about Canadian response and look at the details of it, but it is a promising sign,” Trudeau added.
Shortly after Lutnick’s remarks, Trump announced such a deal with Mexico, but not with Canada.
Trump said he spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and came to an agreement to pause tariffs on goods covered by the free trade deal for one month. He said the reprieve will be in place until April 2—the date when his administration will outline reciprocal tariffs against U.S. trading partners.
Trump said he made this deal “out of respect” for Sheinbaum. “Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard” on the border, Trump said on his Truth Social platform on the morning of March 6.
In another post, minutes earlier, Trump accused Trudeau of “using the tariff issue” to stay in power.
“Believe it or not, despite the terrible job he’s done for Canada, I think that Justin Trudeau is using the Tariff problem, which he has largely caused, in order to run again for Prime Minister,” he said.
In his March 6 press conference, Trudeau was asked by reporters whether he had considered staying on in a caretaker role to deal with the tariffs issue after his successor is chosen.
“No, I will not be,” Trudeau said. “I look forward to a transition to my duly elected successor in the coming days or week.”
The Liberal Party will be announcing its new leader on March 9, who will then be appointed prime minister.
The Liberal Party has seen a resurgence in the polls since Trudeau announced his intention to step down in early January, and amid Trump’s tariff threats.
The Trump administration slapped Canada with 25 percent tariffs on its goods and 10 percent on its energy imports into the United States on March 4, citing border issues around the trafficking of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid. Trump gave U.S. carmakers a one-month exemption to the tariffs.
Canada had implemented a range of border and counter-drug trafficking measures in order to avoid U.S. tariffs, but Trump said he told Trudeau on March 5 during their call the progress is “not good enough.”
Trudeau said earlier this week he believes Trump is using fentanyl as an excuse to impose tariffs on Canada to collapse its economy and facilitate “annexation.” Trump has repeatedly spoke of making Canada the 51st U.S. state, saying it could avoid tariffs and benefit from lower taxes and stronger military protection.
“The excuse that he’s giving for these tariffs today of fentanyl is completely bogus, completely unjustified, completely false,” Trudeau said on March 4.
Mexico, which is a much larger source of fentanyl, drug cartel activity, and illegal migration, was also slapped with 25 percent tariffs by the United States, but was then granted the exemption.
Canada immediately retaliated against the U.S. tariffs with an initial CA$30 billion in counter tariffs. Mexico did not announce retaliation measures.