The White House said on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump is still planning 25 percent of the customs tariffs on the goods from Canada and Mexico starting from the end of this week.
A spokesperson for the first journalist for the new administration, White House press secretary Caroline Levit said that she had discussed the case with Trump and does not believe that the president had been repeated from the date of the start of February 1 of this tariff.
She said: “As much as I still track, and that night was talking to the president directly, February 1 is still in the books.”
Canadian officials installed a full court printing press on the Trump administration to try to prevent economic definitions, including promoting commercial partnerships and reinforced energy, with a possible response.
“We need to make sure that we are trying to protect Canadians from repercussions,” the Minister of Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkenson, told reporters on Tuesday.
The federal government has also made new border security investments to address Trump’s concerns about fentanel and human trafficking.
Levitt proposed “Trump’s statements specified in terms of Canada and Mexico when it comes to what he expects in terms of border security” while discussing the definitions, but he did not say whether Trump believed that Canada had done enough.
She referred to a confrontation last weekend with Colombia, which initially rejected the return of the migrants who were deported home, but then retreated when Trump threatened the customs tariff, as an example of using definitions as a negotiating tool.
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She said: “I will not apply to the president to invite foreign countries with what they should or should not do it to stay away from these definitions.”
“The president has made it clear that every nation is expected to cooperate around this world with the return of its citizens.”
Despite Ottawa’s border plan, Trump recently raised the American trade deficit with Canada and the disruptions of defensive spending to justify his introductory threat.
He repeatedly said that Canada should become an American country instead of “supporting” the United States, the northern ally.
Levitte will not say whether the definitions are 25 percent on Canada and Mexico, in addition to an additional tariff that Trump promised Chinese goods, along with global tariffs on selected materials such as steel and aluminum.
“All I can direct you to is what the president said on this front: February 1 for Canada and Mexico, as well as the China tariff that he discussed … I will leave him to make any decisions on this front, she said.
On Monday, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Melanie Jolie, expressed her hope to reach a diplomatic solution, but said that Canada will be “ready on the first day” to respond if Trump continued the tariffs on Saturday.
Jolie will travel to Washington on Wednesday to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in another attempt to respond to the definitions.
Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Doug Ford referred to the threat of Trump’s tariff to justify the summons of the early elections this week, but he suggested that the date of February 1 might not be placed in the stone.
“At the present time, President Trump has put the uncertainty for every one Canadian, and many other countries around the world, and this will not happen overnight,” he said.
“This may not happen on February 1 – I am sure that something is coming – but this will be a battle over the next four years, and I want to make sure I have a strong mandate for President Trump’s superiority.”
Ford said he was planning to continue to act as Prime Minister, including Washington’s visit, in February with a group of other prime ministers, during his campaign for another mandate.
– With the files from the Canadian press
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