Negotiations with Trump: Canada has no agreement just hours before the deadline

Donald Trump finally signed his executive order, which will increase tariffs by 10% on Canadian goods that do not comply with the free trade agreement, starting today after weeks of threats.

Despite "intense" discussions in recent weeks, Canada failed to secure a deal with the United States by Friday's deadline.

Customs duties on products that do not comply with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement will therefore increase from 25% to 35% overnight from Thursday to Friday.

A senior Trump administration official quoted anonymously by CNN described the talks with Canada as "less constructive" than with Mexico, the only country to benefit from a 90-day extension.

The president also issued an executive order adding a "floor" surcharge on dozens of other countries that failed to sign agreements on time, a move sure to disrupt the global economy.

These will benefit from a one-week grace period to allow customs to adjust, according to yet another decree adopted late last evening which only concerns "reciprocal" tariffs and excludes Canada.

In the document released shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday, the White House accuses its northern neighbor of failing to "cooperate to stem the continued flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs" into the United States and of daring to "retaliate" with counter-tariffs.

Since his election in November, the American president has been using unfounded information about fentanyl trafficking and the smuggling of illegal immigrants from Canada to the United States to justify his trade war.

Mark Carney's government had not responded at the time of writing.

In the afternoon, President Donald Trump said that Mark Carney had tried to speak to him earlier in the day, but he had not picked up the phone.

"We did not speak to Canada today," he said.

Donald Trump indicated this morning that Canada's recognition of the Palestinian state, as Mark Carney envisages, "makes the prospect of an agreement very difficult." The president later reversed himself, saying he "did not like" the decision, but that it did not threaten to break off talks.

The Canadian team led by Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Ambassador Kirsten Hillman will remain in Washington at least through Friday to try to secure an agreement, according to a source.

In recent days, the White House has announced agreements with the United Kingdom, the European Union, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, and South Korea.

Many experts believe that we should not worry too much about the increase in tariffs to 35% because they only apply to approximately 5% to 10% of Canadian exports due to the CUSMA, which exempts a large portion of our products from Trump's measures.

In fact, it's "not too bad. It could be worse [to make a bad deal with Trump]," Rambod Behboodi, a senior international trade lawyer at BLG, said in an interview.