Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a speech in the morning of Tuesday, March 4, 2025 on Parliament Hill announcing Canada’s response to a 25 per cent tariff U.S. President Donald Trump is imposing on most Canadian goods.
The video below is in delivered in both French and English. I have included the full transcript provided by The Globe and Mail (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-trudeau-trump-tariff-speech-transcript). I have copied it here in its entirety. This is history in the making.
So today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same time, they’re talking about working positively with Russia appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator.
Make that make sense.
Canadians are reasonable and we are polite, but we will not back down from a fight, not when our country and the well-being of everyone in it is at stake.
The moment the U.S. tariffs came into effect in the early hours of this morning, so did the Canadian response. Canada will be implementing 25 per cent tariffs against $155 billion worth of American goods. Starting with tariffs on $30-billion worth of goods immediately, and tariffs on the remaining $125-billion of American products in 21 days time.
Encore aujourd’hui, on se voit forcé des droits de douanes de 25 per cent sur 155 milliards de dollars américains de marchandise américaines. $30-milliards de façon immédiate, et dans 21 jours, $125-milliards de dollars de marchandise de plus.
Now, just like I did a month ago, I want to speak first directly to the American people. We don’t want this. We want to work with you as a friend and ally, and we don’t want to see you hurt either. But your government has chosen to do this to you.
As of this morning, markets are down and inflation is set to rise dramatically all across your country. Your government has chosen to put American jobs at risk at the thousands of workplaces that succeed because of materials from Canada, or because of consumers in Canada, or both. They have chosen to raise costs for American consumers on everyday essential items like groceries and gas, on major purchases like cars and homes and everything in between.
They have chosen to harm American national security, impeding access to the abundant critical minerals, energy, building materials and fertilizers that we have, and that the United States needs to grow and prosper. They have chosen to launch a trade war that will, first and foremost, harm American families.
They have chosen to sabotage their own agenda that was supposed to usher in a new golden age for the United States, and they’ve chosen to undermine the incredible work we’ve done together to tackle the scourge that is fentanyl, a drug that must be wiped from the face of the earth.
So on that point, let me be crystal clear, there is absolutely no justification or need whatsoever for these tariffs today. Now the legal pretext your government is using to bring in these tariffs is that Canada is apparently unwilling to help in the fight against illegal fentany. Well, that is totally false. Let’s look at the facts. Our border is already safe and secure. Far less than one per cent of fentanyl flows and less than one per cent of illegal crossings into the United States comes from Canada.
But we acted because we know we can always do better. We responded to concerns, including from the president, by implementing an ambitious $1.3-billion border plan, a border plan that includes generational investments in new AI and imaging tools to stop the flow of fentanyl in its tracks, stronger coordination and information sharing with American agencies, along with the deployment of drones, helicopters and additional personnel to keep our borders secure.
A month ago, as part of an agreement with the United States that paused the tariffs, we made further commitments. We appointed Kevin Brosseau as our fentanyl czar, a man who dedicated his multi-decade career in law enforcement to combating organized crime networks and drug trafficking. We designated seven drug cartels, sick evil groups who cynically profit off the pain and suffering of people on both sides of the border, as the terrorist organizations that they are.
And just yesterday, we launched a new joint operations partnership, supported by a $200-million investment between Canada’s security and law enforcement agencies, a partnership that will enhance the coordination of information and intelligence in order to thwart criminal gangs involved in the illegal fentanyl trade. And critically, our actions are working, as the U.S. states, as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection just acknowledged, there was a 97 per cent drop in fentanyl seizures from January compared to December, to a near zero low of less than half an ounce seized in January, even with all the further enforcements and actions we’ve taken at the borders.
In sum, we stepped up. We engaged closely and constructively with the president and his administration. We did everything we promised, we stuck to our word, and we did it because we believe in working together to protect our citizens.
Now I want to speak directly to one specific American, Donald. In the over eight years, you and I have worked together, we’ve done big things. We signed a historic deal that has created record jobs and growth in both of our countries. We’ve done big things together on the world stage, as Canada and the U.S. have done together for decades, for generations, and now, we should be working together to ensure even greater prosperity for North Americans in a very uncertain and challenging world.
Now, it’s not in my habit to agree with the Wall Street Journal, but Donald, they point out that even though you’re a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do.
We two friends fighting is exactly what our opponents around the world want to see.
And now to my fellow Canadians, I won’t sugarcoat it, this is going to be tough, even though we’re all going to pull together, because that’s what we do. We will use every tool at our disposal so Canadian workers and businesses can weather this storm, from expanding EI benefits and making them more flexible to providing direct supports to businesses, we will be there as needed to help.
But Canada, make no mistake, no matter how long this lasts, no matter what the cost, the federal government and other orders of government will be there for you. We will defend Canadian jobs. We will take measures to prevent predatory behaviour that threatens Canadian companies because of the impacts of this trade war, leaving them open to takeovers. We will relentlessly fight to protect our economy. We will stand up for Canadians every single second of every single day, because this country is worth fighting for.
Les derniers mois ont été stressant et honnêtement épuisant pour nous tous. Mais je crois qu’on peut être rassuré par l’incroyable solidarité dont ont a tous été témoin, entre nous. Solidarité entre nos entreprises, nos syndicats, nos sociétés civiles, les communautés Autochtones, et tous les Canadiens. L’ensemble de la société canadienne parle d’une seule voix pour qu’on se fasse entendre de nos partenaires américains pour illustrer que l’imposition de droits de douanes, c’est une très mauvaise idée. En même temps, on travaille à l’interne pour faire tomber des obstacles au commerce entre nos provinces et territoires. On travaille pour rejoindre de nouveaux marchés à travers le monde, pour bâtir une économie toujours plus forte et plus résiliente.- Dans les dernières années, j’ai eu plusieurs occasions de discuter avec les leaders du monde entier. Mon message et toujours le même: le Canada est un partenaire fiable et notre porte est grande ouverte.
Dans les dernières semaines, on a aussi redoublé effort pour renforcer nos liens avec le Mexique, qui a lui aussi été frappé par ces tarifs. Ensemble, on va chercher de nouvelles façons de collaborer, et de s’appuyer l’un sur l’autre pour faire face à cette menaçe. – Face à l’incertitude, face à l’inquiétude, les Canadiens ont fait preuve de tellement de solidarité. Je vous ai vus partager des listes de produits canadiens pour aider vos proches à appuyer les entreprises d’içi. Je vous ai vus changer vos plans de vacances et opter pour des magnifiques destinations touristiques qu’on a içi chez nous au Canada. Je vous ai vus redoubler efforts pour soutenir nos petites entreprises et nos travailleurs. Je vous ai vu vous porter à la défense de notre culture, et la faire rayonner. Je vous ai vus encourager nos athlètes avec une ferveur sans précédent. Moi, qui croyait que je ne pouvais pas être plus fier de notre pays et de nos compatriotes. – Mais j’ai encore quelque chose à vous demander: lâchez pas.
C’est le moment de redoubler d’efforts, de se tenir debout pour notre pays, de faire tout ce qu’on peut pour choisir le Canada, pour défendre le Canada. On va passer ensemble à travers les moments difficiles. Mais après vous avoir vus aller dans les dernières semaines, j’ai jamais été aussi optimiste quant au futur de notre beau pays, malgré tous les défis qu’on va être en train de vivre ensemble. Le Canada reste le meilleur pays sur Terre. On a tellement de raisons d’être fiers de notre chez nous, de ces quelques arpents de neige. Mais, surtout, je suis fier de notre capacité de nous serrer les coudes quand viens le temps. Les Canadiens ont de différentes origines, de différentes langues, différentes croyances, mais quand viens le temps de défendre notre pays, on le fait d’une seule voix, main dans la main. – À travers vents et marées, les Canadiens peuvent toujours compter les uns sur les autres.
Now we’ve been through tough spots before, but every time we’ve faced long odds and seemingly insurmountable obstacles, we’ve not only survived, we’ve emerged stronger than ever. Because when it comes to defending our great nation, there is no price we all aren’t willing to pay, and today is no different.
Merci beaucoup mes amis.