The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/03 at 20:00 EST

Episode Date: February 4, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/03 at 20:00 EST

Every language is a note in the symphony of our heritage. Together, they create a harmony that cannot be silenced. Discover your voice on the new APTN Languages TV channel. From CBC News, the world is ours. I'm Tom Herrington. Some are calling it an economic stay of execution.

The countdown to tariffs on Canadian products entering the U.S. is on hold for a month. That follows a pair of phone conversations between Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump. Michelle Gussoub now on why the Americans stepped back from the brink. As Canada brace for massive tariffs to take effect, a sudden change of course from President Donald Trump. The US will hold off on levying tariffs for 30 days while Canada implements a $1.3 billion plan to secure the border. That will include launching a Canada-US Joint Strike Force, appointing a fentanyl czar, and designating cartels as terrorist organizations.

Speaking earlier Monday at a press conference in Vancouver, Conservative leader Pierre Polyev called for Canada to send soldiers to the border. Immediately deploy military troops, helicopters and surveillance to spot and intercept risks. While the terror threat will continue to hang over the economy, Canada has bought some time. 30 days to further secure the border and try to avoid a trade war. Michelle Gassoub, CBC News, Vancouver. Provincial leaders are reacting to the news of the tariff respite. Manitoba's premier says his government is holding off on plans to remove US alcohol from liquor stores. American companies were also going to be excluded from provincial contracts, but that's not happening either for now. Bob Canoe says the tariff

pause shows Canadians can have an impact when they stand up for themselves. This is a sign that our efforts have been effective at the provincial level, advocating to the American people and to their representatives, putting conservation officers at the border, taking action on money laundering related to drug trafficking. Canou says Canadians have to be prepared because the tariff issue hasn't gone away. In light of the delay, Ontario is holding off on its retaliatory moves against the US tariffs. Doug Ford says the province will not remove American alcohol products from liquor store shelves. The progressive Conservative leader is also holding off on a plan to cancel a 100 million dollar contract with Elon Musk's Starlink. Ford is in the midst of

an election campaign. He is warning if tariffs are imposed by Donald Trump he will not hesitate to relaunch retaliatory actions. The countdown to potential tariffs created a turbulent day on North American stock markets. Most of the major ones were on a bit of a roller coaster, but ended relatively unchanged. Business reporter Kyle Bax has that story. Stock markets are bouncing back after falling into the red as trading began this morning. Initially, the TSX fell 2.5 percent, while the Canadian dollar plunged to a nearly 22-year low, all of this following the announcement

of U.S. tariffs against Canada and Mexico over the weekend. The markets have bounced back once Mexico's president revealed a delay in the tariffs by one month. Now the focus is on whether Canada can negotiate a similar deal. Sean Osborne is Scotiabank's chief currency strategist. It's a highly fluid situation, a lot of volatility, a lot of uncertainty, but I'd say so far that we're actually in the Canadian dollar, although we've seen a fairly significant drop in the exchange rate, it could have been a lot worse. US stocks are also down over the concern that tariffs will hurt many households and drive up inflation.

Kyle Backs, CBC News, Calgary. NATO's secretary general insists the alliance can endure infighting among its members. Mark Rutte was responding to the possible US-Canada trade war and referring to Trump's desire to take control of Greenland, away from Denmark. Rutte spoke today at NATO headquarters in Brussels. He says there are always issues between allies. It is never always tranquil and happy going. There are always issues between allies. It is never always tranquil and happy going. There are always issues, sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller.

But I'm absolutely convinced that we'll not get in the way of our collective determination to keep our deterrent strong. Trump also mentioned imposing tariffs on European allies. Ruta points out the US has had a trade surplus with Europe since 2022. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Tom Harrington. Thanks for listening.