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Ontario Premier Doug Ford prepares to speak to an American news outlet in his office at the Queens Park Legislature in Toronto on Monday, March 10, 2025.

Chris Young/The Canadian Press via ZUMA Press via Reuters

Canada and US to discuss renewed USMCA following tariff de-escalation

In a major development on Tuesday, Ontario, Canada, suspended its 25% surcharge on exports of electricity to Michigan, New York, and Minnesota. Premier Doug Ford also said that he, US Secretary of CommerceHoward Lutnick, and the United States Trade Representative will meet on March 13 to discuss a renewed USMCA ahead of the April 2 reciprocal tariff deadline. Ford announced the move on X and indicated that he and Lutnick had a “productive conversation about the economic relationship between the United States and Canada.”

The announcement followed US President Donald Trump’s threat Tuesday morning that tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports would increase from 25% to 50% starting March 12. Trump said he would declare a “national emergency” in the three states and posted to Truth Social, “Why would our Country allow another Country to supply us with electricity, even for a small area? Who made these decisions, and why? And can you imagine Canada stooping so low as to use ELECTRICITY, that so affects the life of innocent people, as a bargaining chip and threat?”

In response to Ford’s suspending the electricity surcharges from Ontario, Trump reversed course late Tuesday, revoking his imposition of the additional 25% tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. But the planned 25% tariff on the industry will still go into effect on Wednesday.
Paige Fusco

Graphic Truth: Who’s most vulnerable in the North American trade war?

This week, Donald Trump fired the opening shots in a new North American trade war, slapping 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, America’s top two trade partners.

Both countries responded in kind, but by the numbers at least, the US has significantly more leverage in this showdown. That’s because the economies of Canada and Mexico are vastly more dependent on exports to the US than the US is on exports in the other direction.

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Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks, on the day of the 114th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution, in Mexico City, Mexico November 20, 2024.

REUTERS/Raquel Cunha

Constitutional changes target regulatory agencies in Mexico

The lower house of Mexico’s Congress approved the text of a constitutional proposal to scrap oversight bodies on Wednesday, a first step in the ruling Morena party’s goal of eliminating autonomous institutions and consolidating power.

The change is just the latest in a series of reforms begun under former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and carried out by his successor, Claudia Sheinbaum. Plans include overhauling the energy sector and judicial system, and guaranteeing a minimum wage that stays above inflation.

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Jess Frampton

Trudeau’s former right-hand man thinks Trump 2.0 ‘will be harder’

When Donald Trump shocked the world by getting himself elected in 2016, Gerald Butts was the principal secretary to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He was also a key member of the Canadian team that managed the tumultuous but ultimately successful negotiation of the USMCA, sitting across the table from Trump, Peter Navarro, Steve Bannon, and Robert Lighthizer. He is now vice chairman and a senior advisor at Eurasia Group, which is the parent company of GZERO Media.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Jess Frampton

Trump 2.0 is set to upend US-Canada relations

Donald Trump is returning to the White House. Winning the presidency, along with control of the Senate and possibly the House of Representatives, means Republicans have a long runway for policy reform — which is making Canada nervous as the Trudeau government stares down possible challenges from the next administration on trade, defense, immigration, and more.

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Canada's Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada October 2, 2024.

REUTERS/Blair Gable

Supply management showdown: Canadian politics complicates 2026 trade talks

The precarious nature of domestic politics in the Canadian House of Commons looks set to have implications for the mandated renegotiation of the Canada-US-Mexico trade agreement in 2026.

The governing Liberals need the support of the left-wing NDP or separatist Bloc Québecois to survive the barrage of no-confidence votes being brought forward by members of the opposition Conservative Party, who are ahead in the polls and want to send the country to an election.

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Annie Gugliotta

Should Canada give three F’s?

For the past 17 years, Perrin Beatty has been the voice of business in Canada. And that means he cares about one key thing: the United States. After all, Beatty has long understood that for Canadian business, the biggest customer, opportunity, market, threat — you name it — has always been the United States. And Canada has been the biggest or second biggest market for the US. Beatty, who served as defense minister under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in the late 1980s, gave me his view of what to watch for in this volatile election year and why Canada’s three F’s matter more than people think.
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Paige Fusco

Graphic Truth: US trade deficit with Canada & Mexico

The US trade deficit in goods with Canada and Mexico reached an all-time high in 2023 of over $220 billion — and despite what you may hear from certain former US presidents, that’s a good thing. Yes, more money than ever is leaving the US and going to the neighbors. And in exchange, American consumers get more stuff from their neighbors than ever before and for better prices than they can find at home.

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