The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/04/03 at 03:00 EDT

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/04/03 at 03:00 EDT

The world we live in isn't perfect. This is all wrong. I say put mental health first. But it doesn't get any better on its own. I stand before you as a concerned citizen. That's why we talk to activists about how they do what they do and what inspires them to keep going. Because we're all about change.

Listen to stories that give us all hope on all about change wherever you get your podcasts. From CBC News, the world is sour. I'm Neil Kumar. US President Donald Trump has announced so-called reciprocal tariffs on roughly 60 countries, along with a 10% baseline levy on all US trading partners. But Canada and Mexico are exempt from the new global rates. Chris Reyes has the details. This is one of the most important days in my opinion in American history. Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, President Donald Trump announced sweeping

tariffs against a long list of countries but spared Canada and Mexico. The two countries were absent on a chart held up by Trump to show the new tariff rate for each country. Trump called the tariffs reciprocal and explained how they were calculated. We will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us. After the event, the White House released a statement explaining that goods compliant with the free trade deal between the U.S., Canada and Mexico are exempt from reciprocal tariffs, but a 25 percent tariff linked to border security will remain in place. Meanwhile, other countries will still be hit with a 10 percent baseline tariff against

all imports into the U.S. and 25% on all foreign-made vehicles coming into the country. Chris Trarez, CBC News, New York. Prime Minister Mark Carney has met with his U.S.-Canada committee. He says that while Canada may have avoided reciprocal tariffs, the threat to Canada's economy remains. The federal tariffs still remain in place, as do the tariffs for steel and aluminum. The tariffs on automobiles will enter into force.

And the U.S. has signaled that there will be additional tariffs in so-called strategic sectors. There is going to be an impact on the U.S. economy, which will build with time in our judgment. It will be negative on the U.S. economy. That will have an impact on us. But the series of measures will directly affect millions of Canadians. Carney will speak with the premiers at a meeting this morning. More details are expected then. Other federal leaders are on the campaign trail outlining their plans to Trump-proof the Canadian economy. Conservative leader Pierre Poliev says his government would speed up the talks on the new North American

free trade deal and create a special fund to help workers affected by tariffs. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh says Ottawa's priority needs to be the well-being of workers, not big corporations. Janice McGregor has more. We will not back down, we will not give up, and we will win this fight. Union members from the building trades joined Jagmeet Singh in Winnipeg today as he laid out the NDP's plan to protect Canadian workers in this trade war. When it comes to how we as a nation deal with the United States, I'm on Team Canada. I want us to win. I think we need

to show United Front and we stand together. When it comes to our internal response, our domestic response, that's where I'm going to be critical of the other parties. New Democrats want to see more meaningful improvements to the employment insurance system. Their platform also proposes a massive infrastructure building campaign using Canadian materials and Canadian workers. Singh's also matching Donald Trump's protectionism with some of his own, calling for a no trade clause in any future deals to protect essential industries like hydro, critical minerals, and the culture sector.

Janice McGregor, CBC News, Winnipeg. Several Republican senators joined the Democrats to pass a resolution that would block Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada. This came hours after Trump announced sweeping import taxes on some of the country's largest trading partners. Four Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and both Kentucky senators, the former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, defied Trump's pressure campaign and supported the measure in a vote of 51 to 48.

President Trump unveiled 54% tariffs on all Chinese imports into the U.S. on Wednesday as part of his Liberation Day reset of America's global trade policy. China criticized the move and vowed to take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests. The tariffs are poised to push a major reset of relations and escalate a trade war between the world's two largest economies. China is the second top importer to the US behind Mexico. And that is Your World This Hour. Remember you can listen to us wherever you get your podcasts. The World This Hour is updated every hour, seven days a week. For CBC News, I'm Neil Kumar.