All eyes are on Trump today as trade war continues to dominate election campaign

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh spelled out their plans to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff barrage Wednesday, while Liberal Leader Mark Carney shifted to prime ministerial mode to handle the latest wave of levies.

With less than a month to go before Canadians head to the polls, all eyes were on Trump as he prepared to hit several countries — including Canada — with “reciprocal” tariffs in response to various alleged trade practices.

Trump unveiled Wednesday a 10 per cent baseline tariff on imports from most countries and a lengthy list of tariff levels dozens will face.

A White House fact sheet said goods imported under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, known as CUSMA, still do not face tariffs, though imports that fall outside the continental trade pact will be hit with 25 per cent levies.

Trump also says he is going ahead with previously announced 25 per cent tariffs on automobile imports starting today, which will add to existing 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S., including from Canada.

Both Canada and Mexico remain under threat of economy-wide duties the president has linked to the flow of fentanyl across the borders.

In early March, Trump imposed — and then partially paused — 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on Canada and Mexico, with a lower 10 per cent levy on energy and potash.

Carney suspended his election campaign to take part in meetings in Ottawa ahead of the tariff announcement.

He planned to meet virtually Wednesday afternoon with his Canada-U. S. relations council and then, after Trump’s speech, convene his cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations and national security.

Following their phone conversation late last month, Carney and Trump both indicated they had agreed the two countries would begin to negotiate a new economic and security deal after the election.

At the time, Carney said he would be “working very hard over the next month to earn the right to represent Canada in those discussions.”

Poilievre addressed the tariffs at the beginning of his stump speech during a rally in Kingston, Ont., Wednesday evening, calling it “another unfair attack on our economy from the U.S. president.”

The crowd booed that remark, and cheered as he pledged to end Canada’s era of “overdependence and weakness” and said Conservatives would stand with autoworkers.

Before delivering a speech in Toronto in the morning, Poilievre was introduced by Caroline Mulroney, a cabinet minister in Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government and the daughter of former prime minister Brian Mulroney, who helped usher in the initial free-trade agreement with the United States.

Poilievre said that if he becomes prime minister after the April 28 federal election, he will propose an early renegotiation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement ahead of its planned revision in 2026.

“Why wait? Why not get it done now? Why not end the uncertainty that is paralyzing both sides of the border?” Poilievre asked.

He said Canada would seek a pause on all tariffs during those negotiations.

The trade deal was negotiated during Trump’s first term and is up for review next year. Many trade experts have said Trump’s tariffs have effectively suspended much of the agreement already.

At a campaign stop Wednesday in Winnipeg, Singh rejected the idea of an early CUSMA renegotiation and suggested Trump must be held to the terms of the existing deal.

“What’s the guarantee that he would follow a next agreement if we cave on this one?” Singh asked.

“It’s a bad negotiating precedent. How do we trust somebody who negotiated and signed an agreement and then says pre-emptively, without any reason, without any provocation, they’re just going to tear it up unilaterally?”

Federal procurement rules should be strengthened to favour the purchase of Canadian products wherever possible to reduce Canada’s reliance on the United States, Singh said.

“That’s a change that we can make to ensure that when we spend money, it goes towards Canadian businesses, Canadian workers and, most importantly, good unionized workers.”

The Liberals are promising to strengthen Canada’s agri-food sector and maintain the production quotas that have caused friction in trade talks with the U.S.

Carney said in a media statement Wednesday that supply management is “off the table in any negotiations” with Trump, who has long opposed Canada’s system of production quotas for dairy, poultry and eggs.

The Liberals say they have a plan “to protect farmers, ranchers, and agri-food workers” that involves cutting regulations and earmarking $200 million for domestic food processing and $20 million for marketing.

Leger poll results made public Wednesday suggest that as the second week of the campaign began, the Liberals continued to lead in voting intentions with the support of 44 per cent of those surveyed, compared to 38 per cent for the Conservatives.

Data was collected for the online poll from March 26 to 31. Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error.

About two-thirds of Canadians polled said their vote choice was final, while around one-third remained open to changing their minds. One-third of Liberal supporters and more than half of NDP voters said they might switch their vote.

Controversial statements from the past have come back to haunt two major parties on the federal election trail.

The Conservative party confirmed Wednesday that Don Patel, who was running in Etobicoke North, was “no longer a candidate” after engaging with a comment on social media that suggested that some people should be deported to India and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should “take care” of them.

“Endorsing such a statement is clearly unacceptable,” a Conservative campaign spokesperson said in a statement. “The Conservative Party will always stand up for the safety and security of Canadians.”

The Conservatives also dropped a nominee who joked that former prime minister Justin Trudeau should be executed, and another whose online posts included claims that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was provoked by the expansion of NATO.

On Tuesday night, a Conservative campaign spokesperson said another candidate, Lourence Singh, had been dropped but did not provide a reason.

Liberal incumbent Paul Chiang bowed out of the campaign late Monday after suggesting that another candidate could be turned over to Chinese officials in exchange for a bounty.

The Liberals have also dropped Thomas Keeper in Calgary-Confederation as the party says he failed to disclose a stayed domestic assault charge from 2005.

— With files from Catherine Morrison, David Baxter, Craig Lord and Dylan Robertson in Ottawa, Sharif Hassan in Toronto, Darryl Greer in Winnipeg and Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2025.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press