Joly talks tariffs with U.S. Secretary of State at G7

WASHINGTON, Ont. — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Friday she has spoken with her American counterpart about tariffs and trade as U.S. President Donald Trump continues to target Canada with threats of annexation and devastating duties.

Joly said in French that she spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during the G7 gathering in Quebec to encourage a policy reversal on tariffs — but acknowledged that “the only decision-maker is President Trump himself.”

Joly said she told Rubio that it’s important to organize a call between Trump and newly sworn-in Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Joly has been hosting the Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting in the Charlevoix region, northeast of Quebec City, at a fraught time in the relationship between Canada and the United States.

Rubio said again Friday that this G7 gathering is not a meeting to discuss Trump’s comments about annexation, adding he had spoken with Joly about the issue.

Trump’s plans to realign global trade did dominate the G7 ministers’ discussions with Rubio. Markets have been thrown into disarray as Trump pursues his trade war with much of the world.

Joly said Canada will “put maximum pressure on the Americans and meanwhile, we will work on finding off-ramps.”

Rubio said there are no off-ramps from Trump’s tariffs, adding the United States is “resetting its trade relations globally.” Once that’s done, he said, the U.S. will engage in bilateral talks with different countries.

“You have to make it fair, then you can negotiate,” Rubio said.

The Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, also called CUSMA, was negotiated under the first Trump administration to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump at the time called it the best trade deal ever.

Experts and Canadian officials say Trump’s tariffs are meant to rattle Canada and Mexico ahead of a mandatory review of the trade pact set for next year.

Canadian officials said Thursday that a meeting that day with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington was constructive — but they expected no immediate changes to the Trump administration’s punishing tariffs.

Canada’s Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman said they got more insight into Trump’s trade policy at the meeting. An executive action Trump signed after his return to the White House in January ordered multiple federal agencies to study trade policies and trade deficits and report back by early April.

The memorandum also instructed the U.S. trade representative to start consultations on CUSMA and “make recommendations regarding the United States’ participation in the agreement.”

Trump triggered the trade war earlier this month by slapping Canada and Mexico with across-the-board tariffs, only to provide a one-month pause for goods that meet the rules-of-origin requirements under CUSMA days later.

The president linked those tariffs to the flow of deadly fentanyl but Canadian officials have said Trump’s goal is to economically devastate Canada in order to annex the country. U.S. government data shows only a minuscule volume of fentanyl is seized at the northern border.

Trump went ahead Wednesday with an additional 25 per cent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S., backing down on a threat from the day prior to double duties on Canada.

Ottawa responded with 25 per cent tariffs on another $29.8 billion worth of American goods.

Canada has been a target of Trump’s ire, but his expanding trade war is now hitting countries around the world.

The European Union this week announced plans to retaliate over Trump’s latest tariff hit. The EU will raise tariffs on American beef, poultry, bourbon, motorcycles, peanut butter and jeans.

Trump also has signed an executive order to implement “reciprocal tariffs” starting April 2, and floated the idea of additional duties on copper, forest products and automobiles.

Joly received support from European counterparts in a post on social media this week. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock posted a photo with Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas with the two women wearing red and white. Baerbock told Joly, “We’ve got your back.”

“I have really good relationships with my colleagues,” Joly said Friday.

— With files from Catherine Morrison in Ottawa and Dylan Robertson in La Malbaie, Que.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 14, 2025.

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press