What's Trump's endgame with global tariffs? Canadian officials say they have a clearer idea

After a lengthy meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump's top trade officials on Thursday, Canadian representatives say they have a clearer understanding of the rationale behind Trump's insistence on tariffs — not just on Canada but on the whole world.

"Tariffs are now a global policy of the United States," said David Paterson, Ontario's representative in Washington. "And this is a historic change to global trading patterns, and [the Americans are] very aware of that."

Paterson, along with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Canada's ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman, and federal cabinet ministers, met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer — the point people on Trump's trade agenda.

In an interview on Power & Politics, Paterson told host David Cochrane that the Canadians and Americans had a 90-minute meeting and the first half-hour was "a master class" from Lutnick in breaking down the U.S. position on tariffs.

The focus of the U.S. government is dealing with its yearly deficit in federal spending, Paterson said. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the federal government ran a $1.83 trillion US deficit in the 2024 fiscal year.

There are three ways the U.S. government is working to cut down that deficit, Paterson added.

The first is a major budget resolution that calls for trillions of dollars in spending and tax cuts, and the second is slashing the size of government through Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. The third is tariffs, which are meant to be a new revenue source and attract investment into the United States.

Paterson said the American plan is to impose tariffs by sector across countries all around the world on April 2. From there, the countries that get along with the U.S. the best will be "first in line" to adjust or mitigate the tariffs.

"This is the policy. This is the way they're going forward," Paterson said. "And I think [Thursday] gave us a lot of clarity."

In an interview on Rosemary Barton Live airing Sunday, Hillman, Canada's ambassador to the U.S., said the Americans walked the Canadians through Trump's trade agenda and gave them a chance to ask questions and explain how Trump's trade disruptions are hurting the Canadian economy.

Hillman described the meeting as "concrete" and appreciated the conversations, but she noted that nothing changed in terms of the ongoing trade war between Canada and the U.S.

The ambassador told host Rosemary Barton that the Americans know Canada will respond to Trump's tariffs on April 2 and that Trump's team "deeply focused" on that deadline.

"It's the rest of the world that is going to now be brought into their plan. And that is [the Americans'] singular focus," Hillman said. "After that happens, then we'll see what they think the next step might be."

Following the Thursday meeting, Ford told reporters he feels like "the temperature is being lowered, the temperature's coming down" after the bilateral talks.