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Has Canada been too defensive in its response to a threatened 25% tariff on Canadian goods entering the U.S.?

Poll: Canada too defensive?

Canadian officials are adopting a different tone after President Donald Trump ordered a study of the United States' trade relationship with Canada, pushing the threat of devastating tariffs down the road — temporarily.

"We need to move from a defensive position to offensive in the sense that we have a lot of good things to put on the table in that discussion," Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said at the cabinet retreat in Montebello, Que., on Tuesday.

Trump signed the America First Trade Policy after his return to the Oval Office Monday evening, providing Ottawa with some insights into his tariff agenda after months of political anxiety.

The memorandum orders multiple federal agencies to study trade policies and trade deficits. It directs the secretary of commerce and the secretary of homeland security to assess migration and fentanyl flows from Canada, Mexico and China and recommend "appropriate trade and national security measures to resolve that emergency."

The move ostensibly gives Canada more time and information to make the case against Trump's promised 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs.

But Trump wasn't backing away Monday night, suggesting to reporters that he might hit Canada and Mexico with the tariffs on Feb. 1. It's not clear if that date holds any significance; Trump's order says that the report on trade with Canada is not due until April 1.

Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador to the U.S., said the memorandum provides Canadian officials with a framework and key department contacts to allow them to make the case against the tariffs.

"We have now moved from a more abstract discussion with the Trump administration to a very concrete discussion," Hillman said at the cabinet retreat. "That document lays out priorities, it lays out areas of study that are very important to him for his fulfilment of his trade and economic agenda. It’s very detailed."

Trump remains concerned about America's border security, Hillman said. She cautioned people not to focus on Trump's choice of words Monday, when he called Canada "a very bad abuser" in relation to migrants and illegal drugs crossing into the United States.

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