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Donald Trump just announced more tariffs that include Canada.
These new tariffs could have an impact on you so here’s what you need to know.
On February 10, Trump signed executive orders to put 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, including from Canada.
The U.S. president said these tariffs will be imposed “without exceptions or exemptions” on March 12.
“All you have to do is make it in the United States. We don’t need it from another country,” Trump said. “If we make it in the United States we don’t need it to be made in Canada. We’ll have the jobs, that’s why Canada should be our 51st state.”
Justin Trudeau responded to Trump’s threats and said that “tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum would be entirely unjustified.”
Also, Trudeau told CBC News that he hopes Canada won’t have to introduce retaliatory tariffs on aluminum and steel but it’s not off the table.
“If it comes to that, our response, of course, will be firm and clear. We will stand up for Canadian workers. We will stand up for Canadian industries.”
You might be wondering if aluminum and steel tariffs would even impact you.
Opher Baron, a professor of operations management at the University of Toronto, told Global News that this would affect almost every industry that uses steel or aluminum.
Steel or aluminum is in a lot of products, like your home appliances, your cars, the pop and beer cans you buy at the grocery store, and so much more.
“All of our machinery is from steel. If you want to increase your manufacturing base in the U.S. […] you want to have good steel coming so you can produce, you can get your own machines and so on,” Baron said. “Those are things that will be harmed and prices will go up.”
That production price increase could be passed on to consumers like you.
Dennis Darby, president and CEO of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, told CTV News that these tariffs will likely cause inflation.
“It will add costs to supply chains and so, it either hurts companies, hurts employees, and certainly the consumer will pay.”
Saibal Ray, the chair of supply chain management at McGill University, said tariffs would impactcommunities around the manufacturing plants, according to Global News.
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“These are plant towns based on the aluminum industry,” Ray said. “All the other people who are dependent on the plant, whether it is restaurants, whether it is people who drive trucks, everything will be impacted.”
Ray also noted that tariffs could cause companies to make investments in the U.S. instead of Canada to avoid extra costs and that could lead to job losses.
On February 3, 2025, Trudeau and Trump agreed to pause tariffs — both U.S. tariffs on all Canadian imports and Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on certain American imports — for at least 30 days.
Those tariffs from the U.S. were expected to cause the Canadian dollar to drop. That would’ve made almost everything Canada imports more expensive including food, clothes, electronics, and household appliances.
There would have also been an increase in gas prices, job losses and inflation increases.
