The White House said that customs duties would not affect goods in accordance with the Canada-States-Mexico trade agreement, commonly known as ACEUM.
Prime Minister Mark Carney tempered the expectations of an agreement on Friday, saying that Ottawa would only accept an agreement “if there is one on the table that is in the best interest of Canadians”.
Mark Carney described the negotiations of complexes, exhaustive and constructive.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, complained several times from the neighbor in the North of the United States.
“I think Canada could be a country where you just pay customs duties, without really negotiating,” he said last week.
Donald Trump signed the decree Thursday evening imposing increased customs duties in Canada. An information sheet from the White House has justified the modification of rates by claiming that Canada “did not cooperate to stem the continuous influx of Fentanyl” and also underlined the implementation by Ottawa of customs duties as a reprisals.
The president has repeatedly rejected his pricing deadlines, but his commercial program had some successes as Friday’s deadline approaches. This week, he announced agreements with the European Union, South Korea and Pakistan, although many details of these agreements remain vague.
Framework agreements for trade agreements with the United States have been announced for Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and the United Kingdom. All these countries are faced with basic customs duties.
Thursday, the president granted Mexico an extension of 90 days for his commercial negotiations, but did not offer a similar extension in Canada.
Thursday, in a separate decree, Donald Trump increased his so -called “Liberation Day” customs duties on many other countries, with an implementation in seven days.
The 50 % customs duties imposed by Donald Trump on semi-finished copper also entered into force shortly after midnight, but the latter exempt the raw material.
Customs duties on copper are added to an increasing list of American sectoral customs duties, which include customs duties on cars, steel and aluminum.
About 80 to 90 % of Canadian goods could escape higher customs duties imposed by Donald Trump, as they comply with ACEUM’s original rules, said Michael Dobner, national responsible for economic and political practices at PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada.
This does not mean that all of these exporters have completed the necessary documents to avoid customs duties, he added.
It is not known exactly what part of Canadian exports to the United States complies with ACEUM.
Although no sector can be designated as the most at risk, said Dobner, any company that must use many parts from outside North America is threatened by an increase in customs duties.
Dan Kelly, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Federation of the Independent Company, said that many small and medium-sized businesses fear having to pay the heaviest tribute to customs duties.
They may not have the financial flexibility necessary to easily modify their inputs for North American products, nor the capacity to quickly obtain documents attesting to their compliance with ACEUM.
Federation data shows that, so far, most small businesses absorb part or all of the costs associated with Donald Trump customs duties, assuming Canada will find a solution.
“Will 35 % be the drop of water that will overcome the vase?” asked Mr. Kelly.
He added that if Canada remains in a situation of “no man’s land” on Friday, Ottawa should unlock the funds collected thanks to retaliatory customs duties to help companies in difficulty.
Mr. Kelly and Mr. Dobner have both declared that if the increase in customs duties will be disastrous for certain companies, the major concern for all sectors is the persistent uncertainty that slows down investments.
“In general, even without this increase, there was a certain investment freezing in Canada,” said Dobner.
