As Canadian officials convene in Washington, D.C., to prove progress is being made at the border ahead of next week’s tariff deadline, U.S. President Donald Trump says he plans to impose sweeping 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico on March 4, claiming “drugs are still pouring into our country.”
“We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled,” Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social on Thursday.
Earlier this month, Canada secured a 30-day pause on those likely economically devastating tariffs, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — over two phone calls directly with the U.S. president — pitched additional measures to address border security and combat the fentanyl crisis.
Those new measures included appointing a fentanyl czar and listing drug cartels as terrorist organizations.
Public Safety Minister David McGuinty and Immigration Minister Marc Miller will meet with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan on Thursday afternoon. Fentanyl czar Kevin Brosseau and RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme are also in Washington, D.C.
Sources tell CTV News that the Trump administration’s metrics involve Canada showing how it’s helping to reduce fentanyl-related deaths in the U.S. and how Canada is increasing interception of fentanyl at the northern border.
Speaking to reporters Thursday morning, McGuinty said he believes Canada’s latest border measures should satisfy the Trump administration.
“The evidence is irrefutable. The progress is being made,” McGuinty said. “In my view, any test that was put on this country, on Canada, in terms of showing progress and meeting standards for the border, I believe those have been met.”
When asked how confident he is about whether tariffs can be avoided next week, McGuinty said members in Trump’s administration are acknowledging Canada’s progress at the border.
“We’re showing more and more cooperation. They are eager to cooperate with us,” he said.
But asked by media at the White House on whether he’s seen any progress, Trump responded, saying “I don’t see it at all. No, not on drugs.”
At an announcement in Montreal on Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government is focused on “making sure that come Tuesday and for the weeks that follow, there are no tariffs imposed on Canada,” but he also insisted they will be ready to respond if tariffs move forward.
“If on Tuesday, there are unjustified tariffs brought in on Canada, we will have an immediate and extremely strong response as Canadians expect,” Trudeau said.
Before the latest tariff reprieve, Canada said it would retaliate by slapping 25 per cent tariffs on $155 billion worth of American goods.
Illegal migration, fentanyl seizures decreasing at Canada-U.S. border
Trump claims “drugs are still pouring” into the U.S. from Canada, but data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show fentanyl-related interceptions have decreased.
Last month, CBP told CTV News that illegal encounters between ports of entry at the Canada-U.S. border decreased by more than 80 per cent between June to November last year due to expanded enforcement efforts.
Fentanyl seizures at the border have also dropped by 97 per cent in January 2025 compared to December 2024, according to CBP.
On Wednesday, the RCMP also reported more than 46 kg of fentanyl, and 15,765 of fentanyl pills and other synthetic opioids, were seized between Dec. 9, 2024, and Jan. 18, 2025, as part of a “national sprint aimed at disrupting illegal fentanyl production and distribution in Canada.”
Prior to these latest efforts, Canadian officials highlighted that less than one per cent of all seized fentanyl imports into the U.S. comes from Canada.
Despite acknowledging this statistic, Trump said Canada “should be apprehending more.”
Aside from next week’s border-related tariffs, Trump has said other levies are also on the way, such as new tariffs on steel and aluminum as of March 12, and “the big one,” reciprocal tariffs, in early April.
