Ottawa Launches Canada-US Economic Summit Amid Tariff Pause

Premiers and senior federal government figures attends a press conference concluding a first ministers meeting, in Ottawa, on Jan. 15, 2025. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

The federal government is using the respite in the Canada-U.S. tariff dispute to launch an economic summit focused on boosting domestic economic resiliency and diversifying trade.

The Canada-U.S. Economic Summit, set for Feb. 7 in Toronto, will gather Canadian leaders from trade, business, public policy, and organized labour to explore strategies to boost Canada’s economy, increase domestic trade, and diversify export markets, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a Feb. 5 release.

“While the tariffs proposed by the United States have been paused for 30 days, this is an important opportunity to build a long-term prosperity agenda for Canada. One that is resilient, that breaks down barriers between provinces and territories, and that is diversified in global trade,” the release said.

The event will feature members of the Council on Canada-U.S. Relations, established in January to advise Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet on bilateral relations amid U.S. tariff threats.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre recently called for the elimination of interprovincial trade barriers in Canada, among other measures, to strengthen domestic trade in light of the tariff threat.

“We need to knock down interprovincial trade barriers to have true free trade across our country. We are in this state because we trade twice as much to the Americans as we sell to ourselves,” he said during a Feb. 2 press conference, arguing that interprovincial barriers kill jobs and drive up consumer prices.

In July 2017, the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) came into effect, aiming to improve the flow of goods, services, investment, and labour by harmonizing product standards and simplifying procurement processes. Currently, provinces still operate under differing regulations in a variety of sectors—such as those governing alcohol, energy, and professional licensing.

On Feb. 3, Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump reached an agreement to freeze tariffs that would have seen the United States impose a 25 percent levy on most Canadian goods and a 10 percent tariff on energy exports. In response, Ottawa had planned to retaliate with phased retaliatory tariffs, totalling $155 billion, on a range of American products. The U.S. tariff and Canada’s first-phase counter tariffs, covering $30 billion worth of U.S. goods, were previously scheduled to take effect on Feb. 4.

As part of the truce agreement, Canada will implement its border security plan, appoint a “fentanyl czar,” designate drug cartels as terrorist organizations, and commit $200 million for intelligence operations to combat the fentanyl trade. The measures respond to a key reason cited by Trump for imposing tariffs—his concerns over illegal migration and drugs entering the United States from Canada.