President Donald Trump announced a new set of duties on Canadian goods that were not covered by existing sectoral tariffs.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Canada urgently needs to land a trade deal with the United States but it should not have set a deadline for negotiations because U.S. President Donald Trump “will try to take advantage” of the time crunch.

If implemented, Trump's new 35 percent duties will be "separate from all Sectoral Tariffs," such as the 50 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports. Trump also promised that, if Canada raises its own tariffs in response, then "whatever number [Canada chooses] to raise them by, will be added onto the 35% that [the U.S. charges]."

Canada is seeking to finalise a free trade deal with Southeast Asian nations as part of a push to expand into new markets, its top diplomat said, responding to the hefty tariffs imposed on it by the United States,

The letter reiterated Trump’s complaints about dairy quotas, fentanyl and the U.S. trade deficit, which is mostly fueled by American refineries’ thirst for Canadian oil. His social media post caused the Canadian dollar to immediately tumble, indicating the market wasn’t expecting this escalation.

The federal government, industry, and provinces are seizing the crisis to try and build more stuff more quickly - "build, baby, build" in the words of our prime minister - under the premise that it will help reduce dependency on an increasingly unpredictable neighbour.

The Canadian dollar edged higher against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday but the move was modest as the greenback notched broad-based gains and after new U.S. trade tariffs cast doubt about prospects of a trade deal this month between Canada and the United States.