Federal election campaigns steel themselves for Trump's sweeping 'Liberation Day' tariffs

The rubber hits the road in Nova Scotia

Hi, I’m a journalist who covers the Maritimes and reports live on CBC News Network.

Here in Nova Scotia — and elsewhere in Canada — most people don’t know that this province’s top export to the United States isn’t fish or lobster. It’s rubber tires.

Michelin has owned tire factories here for more than 50 years. The three plants now in operation employ nearly 4,000 workers, which in turn support thousands of other jobs. Last year, roughly $1.5 billion worth of tires were shipped from Nova Scotia to the United States. That surpassed the $1.2 billion of seafood exports.

Provincial officials will be watching today’s tariff announcement closely, to see how it could impact this cornerstone of Nova Scotia’s economy.

Conservatives drop three candidates in a day

Lourence Singh, who was running in B.C.’s New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville riding, dropped out of the race yesterday, making him the third Conservative candidate to exit in a single day.

The party didn’t say why Singh was dropped. The others are Mark McKenzie from Ontario’s Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore riding, and Stefan Marquis, who was running in Montreal’s Laurier-Sainte-Marie riding.

McKenzie was booted from the race over past comments where he expressed support for public hangings, with a party spokesperson calling the remarks “unacceptable.”

Marquis was dropped after it was unearthed that he shared conspiracy theories on social media on subjects related to COVID-19, vaccines, the World Economic Forum and the war in Ukraine.

Poilievre is speaking now in Toronto, and we’re waiting to see if he comments on these candidates.

Auto workers ready to fight for their jobs

Hi there from Windsor, Ont., the auto capital of Canada, where I'll be reporting today on CBC News Network. This city is bracing for the impact of the U.S. tariffs, and autoworkers are preparing to defend their jobs.

I met yesterday with Chad Lawton, a Ford plant worker and a union representative with Unifor. His two sons and wife work there too, and his wife’s family can trace their connection to the company all the way back to 1904, its very beginning in Canada.

"My sons are fifth-generation. There's been someone in my family at Ford motor company for 120 years. It's going to stay that way," Lawton told me.

Lawton said there is a lot of fear and anxiety among autoworkers right now. Older workers are worried about their retirement; younger workers are worried about their future and whether they will have one in the auto sector.

Despite the stress, Lawton said they're ready to fight to keep their jobs on this side of the border.

"At the end of the day, they will drive a truck over my cold, dead body before they take one piece out of my plant," said Lawton.

‘Let’s defend Canadian interests — all of them’

D.C. insiders who would typically have an ear to the ground are telling Canadian industry leaders they aren’t sure what will happen at 4 p.m. ET when Trump makes his tariffs announcement.

That’s according to Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers'​ Association.

“This is a bit of education guesswork,” said Volpe,

He said the duties announced today could include a broad 20 per cent retaliatory tariff, or they might target specific countries — and some countries might get off easier than others.

But Volpe stressed that “when those things go through, people will lose jobs. Regular people who don’t have a voice in Washington or in Ottawa are going to lose their jobs.”

Volpe and other Canadian industry leaders will meet with the prime minister today during a virtual meeting of the Prime Minister’s Council on Canada-U.S. Relations, scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.

“We usually talk through scenarios,” he said.

“There is unanimity at that table. I think everybody’s [first priority] is let’s defend Canadian interests — all of them.”

Mark Carney flew back to the nation’s capital after spending yesterday in Winnipeg. The Liberal leader closed out his time in Manitoba with an evening rally, promising to fight the trade war but still without referencing any details of his plans.

That wasn’t surprising, given Carney’s strategy so far has been to keep his ideas close to his chest while he waits to see exactly what the president does this afternoon.

At the rally, though, he did imply that he plans to focus his response to Trump’s tariffs on dealing with the policy and not the person responsible.

“The first thing in a crisis is you have to distinguish between what you can change and what you can't. And — I'm not sure this is a big insight — but I'm not sure what we can change with Donald Trump,” he told the Winnipeg crowd.

Trump has been threatening tariffs since he won the U.S. presidential election in November, at one point saying it would be his first order of business once he took office. Since inauguration day in January, the president has rattled the North American economy with on-again, off-again policies taxing Americans for Canadian goods coming across the border.

The back-and-forth has created a volatile economic situation, to say the least. Trump’s latest move has been to promise more sweeping tariffs on any and all U.S. trading partners today, which he has dubbed "Liberation Day." If those trading partners decide to go tit-for-tat with their own countermeasures, it could create a global trade war.

Liberation or termination? Depends who you ask

Hello! I’m your live page writer this morning. I’m based in Toronto.

It’s April 2 — the day that Donald Trump is expected to announce sweeping retaliatory tariffs on all countries, including ours, further escalating a global trade war that has upended markets and brought protectionism back into fashion.

With hours to go, not much is known about the president’s plans or how they will impact Canada. He’s set to make an official announcement in the White House Rose Garden at 4 p.m. ET.

Trump and his administration have suggested that today will be a historic one in U.S. history, dubbing it “Liberation Day.” Ontario Premier Doug Ford, on the other hand, is calling it “Termination Day,” given the major ramifications for Canada’s jobs and its economy.

Mark Carney, in his role as prime minister, has kept his cards close to his chest when it comes to outlining a response to U.S. trade actions. At 5:30 p.m. ET, he will be meeting with the Canada-U.S. relations cabinet committee to discuss Canada’s next move.

Good morning, Canadians. I’m a digital producer based in Toronto, and I’ll be curating your live updates experience this morning.

You’ve likely already heard: U.S. President Donald Trump will be announcing his plan to tariff most of America’s trading partners today. There will undoubtedly be a ton of news and analysis as Canada prepares to hear more about a policy that could devastate our economy.

Stick with us as we bring you all the developments from Washington, Ottawa and the campaign trail.