Canada following ‘very closely’ as Trump vows copper, pharma tariffs: Joly
The Canadian government hasn’t yet seen an executive order on the tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump vowed against copper and pharmaceutical imports, Industry Minister Melanie Joly says.
But Canadian officials in Washington, D.C., and Ottawa are following the vows “very closely,” she said, staying tight-lipped on any details of ongoing trade talks.
“Every single journalist in the country wants to have more information about the negotiations, and my answer is always the same. We will let the prime minister do the negotiation, supported of course by our negotiator-in-chief back in Washington, Kirsten Holman, and we will not negotiate in public.”
The United States plans to impose a 50 per cent tariff on copper imports, Trump said on Tuesday.
He also said the plan is to impose a 200 per cent tariff on pharmaceuticals.
However, he did not provide details about those latest promised tariffs.
Joly said the government would work to support workers and companies affected by tariffs on the steel, aluminum and auto industries.
“My job right now is to make sure that in the context of this trade war, I’m supporting the front lines of this trade war, which are the workers and the companies affected by the unjustifiable and unjustified tariffs,” she said.
The target date for a new Canada-U.S. trade and security deal is less than two weeks away.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce said it was very concerned about what it called Trump’s “tariff roller-coaster” disrupting North American and global supply chains.
“The constant introduction of new tariffs and disruptions to global supply chains risks undermining the very sectors of the economy that the U.S. administration says it wants to protect. Canada is a trusted supplier of copper to the U.S. economy — exporting over $4.5 billion to our southern neighbour in 2023,” Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce said in a statement to Global News.
While the U.S. in 2024 mined an estimated 1.1 million tonnes of copper and exported about a third of that in primarily unrefined form, it imported 810,000 tonnes , nearly all of it refined, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Canada is home to one per cent of the world’s total copper reserves, according to Natural Resources Canada.
In 2023, Canadian mines produced 508,250 tonnes of copper in concentrate, with nearly half originating from British Columbia. According to Natural Resources Canada, the country’s exports of copper and copper-based products were valued at $9.4 billion in 2023.
The United States is by far the largest destination for Canadian copper, importing 52 per cent of Canada’s total copper exports. This was followed by China at 17 per cent and Japan at 12 per cent.
However, some experts say the impact of the latest tariffs on Canada could very well depend on the outcome of the talks between Trump and Carney and whether they can reach a trade deal by July 21.
If Canada is exempted from the copper tariffs by July 21, the impact could be very muted, said Micael Dobner, an economist and public policy expert at PwC Canada.
“If it’s exempted, then Canada will actually benefit from higher copper prices that inevitably will take place given the tariffs,” he said.
But even in a scenario where Canada does not get an exemption, he said the outlook won’t be severe for Canada.
“If it’s not exempted, then in the short run we will see some decline in demand for copper, but not very significant because copper is such an important input in so many processes and products that I cannot see a significant decline in demand,” he said.
“Most of the tariff will be passed on to U.S. consumers.”
Trump’s announcement on Tuesday also vowed a 200 per cent tariff on pharmaceutical imports.
The largest impact will be on American consumers of drugs and medicines, according to Liam MacDonald, a policy expert at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
“I think there will be a lot more impact on the United States. This is going to hurt Americans much more than it would hurt Canadians. Especially the most vulnerable Americans. We’re talking about potential shortages of medication, higher insurance premiums and higher medical expenditures (for Americans),” he said.
According to a research report published in March, any tariffs on Canadian pharmaceuticals would raise costs significantly for Americans
“We estimate that $3 billion in US pharmaceuticals depend on Canadian manufacturing, with 25% tariffs adding $750 million in cost,” the report said.
MacDonald said it would also have an impact on Canadian industry.
“We do export quite a lot of pharmaceuticals to the United States, primarily generics. So certainly, there would be an economic impact. We’ve always collaborated with the United States and the pharmaceutical industry,” he said.
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