While U.S. President Donald Trump91裸聊视频檚 threat to impose tariffs on Canada is alarming enough, other measures he announced Monday after his inauguration could have their own implications for Canada.
Here are five Trump directives that could affect Canadians:
Pressure to scrap Facebook tax
Canada implemented a digital services tax in June that applies to revenue from online services, such as advertising on social media platforms. Big Tech firms have said this undercuts their business, while companies that promote U.S. trade say it91裸聊视频檚 an irritant for Washington.
The legislation enabling the digital services tax came after Canada spent years taking part in an effort by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development to implement a global tax on multinational corporations. Some lobbyists have pushed Canada to wait for the OECD to come up with a global standard instead of pushing its own tax.
Trump has signed an order targeting the OECD91裸聊视频檚 proposed global tax and triggering investigations of any country with tax rules that 91裸聊视频渄isproportionately affect American companies.91裸聊视频� University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist, who specializes in e-commerce, said that makes the Canadian digital services tax 91裸聊视频渁n obvious target.91裸聊视频�
Refugee resettlement
In addition to measures to fortify the border, Trump is suspending refugee resettlement to the U.S. until an unspecified date.
The move could increase the pressure on Canada to take in more people seeking safety at a time when Ottawa is trying to limit the number of people resettling here due to the shortage of housing.
Refugee advocates say this might jeopardize ongoing efforts to resettle people from Afghanistan in the U.S.
Energy policy
Trump is withdrawing the U.S. from the 2012 Paris Agreement on climate change 91裸聊视频� a major international treaty meant to guide efforts to avoid catastrophic global warming 91裸聊视频� as well as the 1992 United Nations framework on climate change.
Trump also signed an order calling for an expansive approach to energy exploration, 91裸聊视频渋ncluding on the Outer Continental Shelf.91裸聊视频� Another order calls for liquefied natural gas to be tapped in areas of Alaska where the Biden administration had limited drilling. That could have an impact on the global market just as Canada is planning to ramp up its LNG exports.
Trump91裸聊视频檚 orders also end certain U.S. programs meant to boost the use of electric vehicles. Those programs heavily influenced Ottawa91裸聊视频檚 spending on industrial plants meant to secure Canadian jobs in the EV sector.
University of Guelph economics professor Ross McKitrick said in a post on X that this means Canada has spent billions of dollars 91裸聊视频渢o build unwanted products for a market that just vanished.91裸聊视频�
Trump is considering ending tax credits to lower the cost of EVs in the U.S., and if he does, Canada91裸聊视频檚 investments in EV battery plants will go down substantially. Canada included production subsidies to plants including Volkswagen and Stellantis, to equal the U.S. tax credits but the contracts say those subsidies are contingent on the U.S. tax credits remaining in place.
Washington also seeks to become the world91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频渓eading producer and processor of non-fuel minerals, including rare earth minerals,91裸聊视频� which could put America in competition with Canada.
Industry Minister Fran莽ois-Philippe Champagne said Tuesday he91裸聊视频檇 rather use this as a point of collaboration, adding that Canada already has taken measures to address U.S. concerns about China in critical minerals supply chains.
91裸聊视频淲e have a lot of good things to put on the table,91裸聊视频� he said.
Wavering multilateralism
Trump is temporarily freezing foreign aid. That could put more pressure on countries like Canada to step up in a world grappling with numerous wars and the highest number of displaced people in history.
He is also pulling the U.S. out of the World Health Organization. The WHO is currently tasked with steering global responses to diseases such as avian flu, which could spread through birds that cross the continent.
Trump is also reversing sanctions on violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank and has ordered a review of all State Department operations 91裸聊视频渋n line with an America First foreign policy, which puts America and its interests first.91裸聊视频�
Security clearances
Trump signed an memorandum allowing his White House counsel to grant interim six-month security clearances 91裸聊视频� including access to the highest levels of government information 91裸聊视频� to some aides whose federal background checks are pending.
Trump delayed signing an agreement with the outgoing Biden administration last year that would have enabled the FBI to begin processing those clearances faster. Trump91裸聊视频檚 order directs that they be granted access to federal property, technology and information immediately.
The order applies to aides, not cabinet appointees. Intelligence experts have expressed concerns about some of Trump91裸聊视频檚 cabinet picks 91裸聊视频� such as his proposed director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who has downplayed the actions of hostile states such as Russia and the former Assad regime in Syria.
Artur Wilczynski, a former senior Canadian intelligence official, said Trump91裸聊视频檚 order opens a point of vulnerability for Canada. He suggested on X that America91裸聊视频檚 intelligence partners should 91裸聊视频渂e wary of what you share with the U.S. intelligence community. Trump always was, and continues to be, a threat to our national security.91裸聊视频�
