Not when our country, and the well-being of everyone in it, is at stake.

At the moment, the U.S. tariffs came into effect in the early hours of this morning, and so did the Canadian response.

Canada will be implementing 25% 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.

Today, we will also be challenging these illegal actions by filing dispute resolution claims at the World Trade Organization and through the USMCA.

But in the meantime, our tariffs will remain in place until the U.S. tariffs are withdrawn, and not a moment sooner.

And should these tariffs not cease, we are in active and ongoing discussions with provinces and territories to pursue several non-tariff measures.

Measures which will demonstrate that there are no winners in a trade war.

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've 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've 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've chosen to launch a trade war that will, first and foremost, harm American families.

They've 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 fentanyl.

Well, that is totally false.

Let's look at the facts.

Our border is already safe and secure.

Far less than 1% of fentanyl flows and less than 1% 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 border secure.

Now, 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.

Customs and Border Protection just acknowledged, there was a 97% 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.

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.

Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister.

We will now take 20 minutes of questions.

We will take 20 minutes of questions.

One question, one follow-up.

One question, one follow-up.

Thank you.

Hi, Prime Minister.

Tom Parry with CBC.

You're reaching out to the President today.

You're speaking directly to him.

We heard from U.S.

Vice President J.D.

Vance, who says that Donald Trump will be speaking to Canadians.

And he also says that he wants to see more progress on fentanyl.

So my question to you is, do you have any conversations scheduled with Donald Trump in the coming days?

Is that something maybe your successor should do?

And do you really believe that this is about fentanyl?

Or is there something larger at play here?

I have offered to speak to Donald over the past number of days, and I expect to speak with him in the days to come.

I'm always there to talk with him about the importance of working together to take on the world at this time.

The facts show very clearly that in terms of taking action on fentanyl, we are doing everything that is necessary.

And not just for the United States, for ourselves as well, as Canadians are suffering as well from the scourge that is illegal fentanyl.

We have laid out extensive plans, actions, cooperations, including as recently as the past days in Washington, and they have always been very well received.

And the numbers bear that out.

I think in what President Trump said yesterday, that there is nothing Canada or Mexico can do to avoid these tariffs, underlines very clearly what I think a lot of us have suspected for a long time, that these tariffs are not specifically about fentanyl, even though that is the legal justification he must use to actually move forward with these tariffs.

Mr. Trudeau, in French.

I hope to speak to him in the days to come.

I'm always open to talk.

He seems to regard his friends as his enemies, and his enemies as his friends.

In this regards, Canada and Canadians are very clear.

We know who our friends are, we know who our opponents are, and there is no question that Vladimir Putin and his attack, not just on Ukraine, but on the rules-based international order, on the founding principles of the United Nations, is an opponent of Canada.

I think the question that we all need to be watching closely is, what do the American people think?

How do Americans feel about jettisoning one's friends and allies in favour of a country that has never wished Americans well and continues to act in ways that harm the global economy, and specifically the American economy and American values and principles?

I think the thing to remember, first and foremost, as we reflect on the impacts on Canadian workers and Canadian jobs and businesses, is that, first of all, there will be similar impacts on Americans losing their jobs, American families paying more for basic goods that they rely on at a time where times are tight everywhere.

But our focus has to be on getting these tariffs lifted as quickly as possible.

What can we do in the coming days is our focus to make sure that these tariffs don't last a second longer than necessary.

So we will be looking at, including looking in the coming day, at things we can do around adjusting EI to support people through this difficult time.

But our priority has to be not on figuring out how to manage through these tariffs over the coming days and weeks and months, but on doing everything we can to get them lifted and put an end to this unjustified trade war that hurts American families and Canadian families.

I think in terms of what he wants, I heard he talked about banking again this morning in a tweet, which doesn't make any sense because American banks, there's about 16 American banks currently active in Canada holding about $113 billion worth of assets in this country.

So the American banks are alive and well and prospering in Canada.

It's an example of not really being able to see what it is that he wants because even the excuse that he's giving for these Paris tariffs today of fentanyl is completely bogus, completely unjustified, completely false.

So we actually have to fold back on the one thing he has said repeatedly that what he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy because that'll make it easier to annex us, is the second half of his thought.

Now, first of all, that's never going to happen.

We will never be the 51st state.

But yeah, he can do damage to the Canadian economy, and he started this morning, but he is rapidly going to find out, as American families are going to find out, that that's going to hurt people on both sides of the border.

Americans will lose jobs.

Americans will be paying more for groceries, for gas, for cars, for homes, because we have always done best when we work together.

So we are, of course, open to starting negotiations on the customer review, but let us not fool ourselves about what he seems to be wanting.

And I will admit, I have been holding out hope that these tariffs were just a clever negotiating ploy that would have the impact that they're having now without even bringing them in over the past weeks as we've seen order books dry up for Canadian companies from American customers.

As we've seen expansion plans in Canada put on hold.

As we've seen people choosing to invest in the United States over the past weeks because of the threat of tariffs.

But now that he's moved forward with tariffs, we're going to see the real impact of a trade war between our two countries.

And that impact will be to hurt American families.

Prime Minister, Tonda McCharles with the Toronto Star.

I hope you can be as specific as possible for a number of these points.

Everybody's looking to what actually you're going to do.

In your statement last night, you referenced non-tariff measures.

And I want to know exactly what you're prepared to contemplate there.

And given that you're likely successors, both Carney and Poliev, have said it should be dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs.

That's on $600 billion worth of American imports, if you were to do that.

Is that on or off the table?

I will be sitting down, as I have every week for the past many, many weeks, with the premiers this afternoon to talk about our individual, combined, and collective response to this.

As we've put on the table, the federal government has $155 billion worth of tariffs that we can move forward with immediately, and that we will be moving forward with both now and 21 days from now to give Canadian companies time to adjust their supply chains to not be overly impacted by this.

But there are many other things that have been surfaced by different premiers in different approaches that we can look at.

One, for example, is around purchasing and around suppliers and around contracts, whether it's municipal, provincial, or federal, with American companies.

There are many different things that we've been looking at, and that conversation with the premiers this afternoon is going to be very, very important.

But I can tell you what we have seen is Canadians across provinces and territories, across political lines, are united in knowing that this is a time to hit back hard and to demonstrate that a fight with Canada will have no winners.

And the sooner we can get past this fight, back to working together to take on the world, as our two countries always have, the better we'll all be.

To what extent have you turned or gotten cooperation from any other allies to exact more pain on the U.S., to accelerate getting to a solution?

And are you concerned that Mexico appears to be trying to do their own thing maybe next Sunday?

Where are you with any guarantees you've got allies?

I've just spent quite a bit of time over these past couple of weeks meeting with European and international allies to talk about a number of different things, including standing up for the rules-based order by defending Ukraine, but also being there for each other in a more challenging and uncertain world.

And I can tell you that every country is very, very aware that if the American government is willing to do this to their own closest ally, neighbour, and friend, everyone is vulnerable to a trade war.

And our ability to work together thoughtfully and strategically to make sure we're supporting our citizens, we're doing things together in a more diversified way, is something that is on the mind of all of our allies.

Thanks.

Hi, Prime Minister.

Rachel Haynes from CTV National News.

As we know, the Liberal Party is going to be picking a new leader over the weekend, but when is it going to be your last official day as Prime Minister?

That will be up to a conversation between the new leader and myself to figure out how long a transition is needed.

It should happen reasonably quickly, but there's a lot of things to do in a transition like this, particularly at this complicated time in the world.

Thanks.