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Canada Responds to Trump Tariffs; Target Set to Raise Prices Over Trump Trade War; Interview With Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD). Aired 11- 11:30a ET

Aired March 04, 2025 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:00:08]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And we begin this hour with more breaking news.

This morning, one U.S. retailer is warning that America's newly escalated trade war will start costing you, our viewers, here in the United States more money in a matter of a few days.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Yes, it could impact all of us.

Inflation-weary Americans could see these price increases very soon across a wide range of items, from food and electronics to big-ticket items like cars.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House ahead of the president's prime-time speech to Congress tonight. And CNN global economic analyst Rana Foroohar is in New York.

Rana, so let's listen to what the CEO of Target said this morning about how quickly people will see the effect of these tariffs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN CORNELL, CEO, TARGET: The consumer will likely see price increases over the next couple of days. You think about all the fresh produce. We depend on Mexico during the winter. We're going to try to make sure we can do everything we can to protect pricing. But if there's a 25 percent tariff, those prices will go up.

QUESTION: For things like what? Strawberries, avocados, bananas? What are we talking about?

CORNELL: You have got that list right. Those are some of the key items.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: And those prices could change within days in the stores?

CORNELL: Could change certainly over the next week. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So those clearly were some strong words, Rana. How unusual is this message from such a massive retailer?

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: It's very unusual.

It's really unprecedented actually in terms of saying this is going to hit in a few days. Of course, the items that he is talking about are things that are very perishable. There wouldn't be a lot of supply being kept on hand. And that gets at a key point. Tariffs are something that if supply is short can hit very quickly.

If there's a certain amount of stockpiling of things, if we're talking about clothes or cars, that's going to take longer to pass through the system. But there is no question that this is going to be hitting Americans in the next days, weeks, and months.

These are across-the-board tariffs. They're really going to be a case study in just how integrated global supply chains have become and how, when you drop something in one place, it can have a ripple effect elsewhere. We're really in an unprecedented territory, I would say.

BROWN: Alayna, how does the president plan to address this in his speech tonight?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, that is a key question.

I'm also very much looking forward to see how Republicans in the room react to some of what he says regarding tariffs, particularly when we know, Pamela and Wolf, that, one, the market is down some 1,300 points in the last two days, and then also taking into effect, into account, I should say what Target has said.

But, look, to give you a broader sense of the speech, what I'm really looking for is whether or not we're going to see the Donald Trump who goes off script and kind of gives into his impulses and tries to appeal to his base, throw red meat to the MAGA side of his party, or is he going to be more presidential, try to call for unity, as we know his advisers have been urging him to do behind the scenes, even when you account for what they wanted him to do for his inaugural address as well?

Now, the theme for this speech tonight is the renewal of the American dream. But I'm told it's actually going to be very focused heavily on domestic policy. But, of course, Pamela, Wolf, one of the big things that everyone's going to be looking for is what his rhetoric is like on foreign policy, particularly when you take into account Ukraine, something we know he is going to address this evening.

BROWN: All right, Alayna Treene and Rana Foroohar, thank you so much -- Wolf.

BLITZER: I want to get some more on the breaking news we're following.

Joining us now. Maryland's Democratic Governor Wes Moore.

Governor, thanks so much for joining us.

I know you have spent a lot of time looking at all of this.

GOV. WES MOORE (D-MD): Thank you so much.

BLITZER: How are these tariffs, these new tariffs being imposed by the Trump administration going to affect your state of Maryland?

MOORE: Well, this is going to hit Marylanders very, very hard because they will just continue watching the price of all of our goods go up, because when you are imposing these kind of blanket tariffs, arbitrary, ideologically posed and based tariffs, it is going to increase the price of all goods ranging from everything from the groceries that are in the grocery store to how we're thinking about the basic -- the basic needs for families.

And so this type of work is really just counter to what people are hoping for. When you think about the last election, people hoped for disruption. What they're getting is destruction. And there is a core, key difference about how people are thinking about what they want for government to be able to do.

If you look at how, in contrast, of what we're doing here in the state of Maryland, where we are working to pass legislation to give the middle class a tax cut, to making it easy for businesses to be able to grow and thrive within our state, and you're seeing how the federal government is doing thing that's actually increasing costs, it's just counter to what anyone hoped for and, frankly, what middle-class families need in this moment.

BLITZER: The president's allies, Governor, have defended his tariff threats as a negotiating tactic.

[11:05:03]

But now that they have actually taken effect, and they have over the past 24 hours, do you worry that these tariffs, they will be enormous, could be here to stay?

MOORE: Well, it's just difficult to argue that they're a negotiating tactic when you see the impact that it's already had, the negative impact that it's already had.

We're watching a stock market that is cratering. We are watching how the price of goods are already increasing and some of our nation's largest CEOs of our nation's largest retailers who are already now saying that they are going to increase their prices on the American people.

So, if this is a negotiation tactic, I'm just not sure how good a negotiator we actually have on board or how good these negotiations are going, because what we're then seeing is, we're seeing retaliatory tariffs that are being put on the United States. We're seeing how Maryland -- the largest import that we have within our state is Canada.

And so you're going to see how goods that are coming from Canada will rise in the state of Maryland and will impact everyday Marylanders. And so if this is a negotiation tactic, I think it's time for people to really evaluate whether that tactic is actually working or whether it's actually hurting the American people.

BLITZER: It's clearly hurting the markets right now. The Dow Jones, we just showed our viewers, Governor, down about 760 points so far just today.

I want to look ahead while I have you, Governor, to President Trump's joint address to Congress later tonight. You say you came away concerned, your word, concerned after meeting with the president at the White House last month.

Is there anything he could say to reassure you during tonight's important speech?

MOORE: I wanted to talk about what he's doing to actually help everyday Americans, because, right now, we're not seeing it. Right now, what we're seeing is federal agencies getting shuttered.

What we're seeing is mass layoffs of federal workers and we're watching not just unemployment rates that are rising. We're watching the cost of goods that are rising right alongside with it.

Last Friday, I stood with a collection of federal workers in the state of Maryland who have been directly impacted by this, where my state has over 160,000 federal workers inside the state of Maryland. And I stood with Jonathan, a person who was an Army vet like myself who is now working for the Department of Homeland Security and who was arbitrarily laid off.

And we actually stood with Jonathan and a handful of other federal workers who have lost their jobs and announced that Maryland is putting together a whole series of initiatives to be able to support our federal workers, that we're standing with our people, we will defend our people, and we will protect our people. And

so what I'm hoping to hear from the president of the United States tonight is, what are the measures that the president is taking and this administration is taking to making sure that we are protecting our people, that we are supporting them in this very difficult and challenging time?

And so I'm hoping to hear what he's going to say about what we're going to do to address the rising costs of housing and prescription drugs and not the things that we're doing to actually make those things go up.

BLITZER: Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan will be delivering your party's response to the Trump speech tonight.

What is the most effective message you think she could deliver?

MOORE: I think the most effective thing that any of us can do right now is just speak directly to the people.

It's to let them know that we hear their concerns and to actually tell them what we're doing to be able to address it, where every single day we are working on initiatives here in the state of Maryland that are focusing on things like giving middle-class families a tax cut, by taking a little bit of the economic pressure off of working families right now, particularly when they're watching the cost of everything go up, that what we're doing to make business that -- making our business climate more friendly and address regulatory reform and permitting reform and streamlining government to make it easier on people.

And what are we doing to actually invest in our people, in our public schools, in our work force training, in our work force development? I think people -- what people are looking for is not rhetoric. They're looking for results. And that's the thing that I think we have got to make sure we're centering all of our work on every single day.

BLITZER: Governor Wes Moore of Maryland, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it very much.

MOORE: Thank you so much.

BLITZER: And, Pamela, there's more breaking news.

BROWN: Yes, we have some breaking news coming in, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaking right now after the U.S. slapped Canada with 25 percent tariffs. Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: So today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same time, they're talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator.

Make that make sense.

Canadians are reasonable and we are polite, but we will not back down from a fight, not when our country and the well-being of everyone in it is at stake.

[11:10:08]

At the moment, the U.S. tariffs came into effect in the early hours of this morning, and so did the Canadian response. Canada will be implementing 25 percent tariffs against $155 billion worth of American goods, starting with tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods immediately, and tariffs on the remaining $125 billion of American products in 21 days' time.

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) BROWN: All right, we were just listening to Canadian Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau. In response to President Trump opposing this 25 percent tariffs on Canada, he said that Canada will not back down from a fight, and now Canada is coming back with tariffs of their own against the U.S.

BLITZER: His words were very strong. Here's the prime minister of Canada, America's closest ally, saying the United States under the Trump administration now has launched what he calls a trade war against Canada.

Let's go back and listen.

TRUDEAU: ... go on and not a moment sooner. And should these tariffs not cease, we are in active and ongoing discussions with provinces and territories to pursue several non-tariff measures, measures which will demonstrate that there are no winners in a trade war.

Now, just like I did a month ago, I want to speak first directly to the American people.

We don't want this. We want to work with you as a friend and ally. And we don't want to see you hurt either. But your government has chosen to do this to you.

As of this morning, markets are down, and inflation is set to rise dramatically all across your country. Your government has chosen to put American jobs at risk at the thousands of workplaces that succeed because of materials from Canada or because of consumers in Canada, or both.

They have chosen to raise costs for American consumers on everyday essential items like groceries and gas, on major purchases like cars and homes, and everything in between. They have chosen to harm American national security, impeding access to the abundant critical minerals, energy, building materials, and fertilizers that we have and that the United States needs to grow and prosper.

They have chosen to launch a trade war that will first and foremost harm American families. They have chosen to sabotage their own agenda that was supposed to usher in a new golden age for the United States. And they have chosen to undermine the incredible work we have done together to tackle the scourge that is fentanyl, a drug that must be wiped from the face of the earth.

So, on that point, let me be crystal clear. There is absolutely no justification or need whatsoever for these tariffs today. Now, the legal pretext your government is using to bring in these tariffs is that Canada is apparently unwilling to help in the fight against illegal fentanyl.

Well, that is totally false. Let's look at the facts. Our border is already safe and secure. Far less than 1 percent of fentanyl flows and less than 1 percent of illegal crossings into the United States comes from Canada. But we acted, because we know we can always do better. We responded to

concerns, including from the president, by implementing an ambitious $1.3 billion border plan, a border plan that includes generational investments in new A.I. and immigrant imaging tools to stop the flow of fentanyl in its tracks, stronger coordination and information sharing with American agencies, along with the deployment of drones, helicopters and additional personnel to keep our border secure.

[11:15:02]

Now, a month ago, as part of an agreement with the United States that paused the tariffs, we made further commitments. We appointed Kevin Brosseau as our fentanyl czar, a man who dedicated his multidecade career in law enforcement to combating organized crime networks and drug trafficking.

We designated seven drug cartels, sick, evil groups who cynically profit off the pain and suffering of people on both sides of the border, as the terrorist organizations that they are. And, just yesterday, we launched a new joint operations partnership supported by a $200 million investment between Canada's security and law enforcement agencies, a partnership that will enhance the coordination of information and intelligence in order to thwart criminal gangs involved in the illegal fentanyl trade.

And, critically, our actions are working. As the U.S. states -- as the Customs and Border Protection just acknowledged, there was a 97 percent drop in fentanyl seizures from January compared to December to a near zero low of less than half-an-ounce seized in January, even with all the further enforcements and actions we have taken at the borders.

In sum, we stepped up. We engaged closely and constructively with the president and his administration. We did everything we promised. We stuck to our word. And we did it because we believe in working together to protect our citizens.

Now I want to speak directly to one specific American, Donald. In the over eight years you and I have worked together, we have done big things. We signed a historic deal that has created record jobs and growth in both of our countries. We have done big things together on the world stage, as Canada and the U.S. have done together for decades, for generations.

And now we should be working together to ensure even greater prosperity for North Americans in a very uncertain and challenging world. Now, it's not in my habit to agree with "The Wall Street Journal," but, Donald, they point out that, even though you're a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do.

We two friends fighting is exactly what our opponents around the world want to see.

And now, to my fellow Canadians, I won't sugarcoat it. This is going to be tough, even though we're all going to pull together, because that's what we do. We will use every tool at our disposal so Canadian workers and businesses can weather this storm. From expanding E.I. benefits and making them more flexible to providing direct supports to businesses, we will be there as needed to help.

But, Canada, make no mistake. No matter how long this lasts, no matter what the cost, the federal government and other orders of government will be there for you. We will defend Canadian jobs. We will take measures to prevent predatory behavior that threatens Canadian companies because of the impacts of this trade war, leaving them open to takeovers.

We will relentlessly fight to protect our economy. We will stand up for Canadians every single second of every single day, because this country is worth fighting for.

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

BLITZER: All right, while the prime minister is speaking in French, I want to bring in CNN's Paula Newton -- she's joining us from Ottawa -- and CNN White House reporter Alayna Treene.

Paula, I have covered U.S.-Canadian relations for many, many years. I grew up in Buffalo, New York, right on the border with Canada. Our family used to go to Canada, to Ontario, to Crystal Beach, every summer. We had a home there. So I spent a lot of time growing up, effectively, in Canada.

I have never seen this U.S.-Canadian relationship deteriorate as seriously as it has right now, the prime minister of Canada saying the U.S. has declared a trade war against Canada.

[11:20:11]

Have you ever seen this U.S.-Canadian relationship as bad as it is right now?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely not, Wolf.

And I echo your thoughts. In my entire lifetime, Wolf, in terms of what you speak and that very close friendship between Americans and Canadians, I have never seen anti-Americanism reach this height in my entire lifetime.

And I want to note, Wolf, that that was the prime minister, the man who will not be prime minister much longer, probably a matter of days. And it was really Justin Trudeau unplugged, saying to the -- saying that he could speak to the American people themselves in a blunt, forceful way, because he doesn't have anything to lose now politically.

And I do note that he basically said, Donald, addressing him directly, you are a smart man, but echoing the words of "The Wall Street Journal," this is a dumb thing to do. He also made it clear, though, to Canadians, Wolf, that, look, he's not going to sugarcoat it, and this will be tough. Wolf, what's interesting here is that so many people across Canada are

echoing what the prime minister has said. We have had leaders of provinces say that they are actually breaking up with America. And make no mistake here, Wolf, this will hurt Canadians. This will really bite. But it will also hurt many Americans as well.

In terms of what happens going forward, Wolf, this is escalation. And Justin Trudeau is putting the United States on notice that there will be escalation. Key, though, he did speak to those strategic industries. When we talk about critical minerals, we have heard so much about how many Ukraine has. Canada, arguably, has some of the largest deposits of critical minerals in the world.

They were willing to certainly open themselves up to even American companies that wanted to come in and try and exploit that and try and clear some of the regulatory hurdles. It's clear the Trump administration was not interested.

Wolf, this is a decoupling, not just from Canada, but certainly many, many Western allies. And Europe right now, who has also been put on notice about tariffs in April, are taking note. What happens next? We continue to see the fallout. We do hear that more measures, including what we have discussed weeks ago, about things like U.S. alcohol coming right off the shelves in Canada, that's just one example of something that will hit Republican states like Kentucky that will not be able to sell much of their bourbon into Canada at all.

But there is so much more here at stake. Key is energy, both oil, but also natural gas and also electricity. And Canada on the table right now has a threat of putting an export tariff on that, which will instantly make energy much more expensive for Americans.

BLITZER: Paula, hold on for a moment, because the prime minister has started taking some questions from reporters. He's speaking about Vice President Pence right now -- excuse me -- Vice President Vance right now. I want to listen.

TRUDEAU: ... very clearly that, in terms of taking action fentanyl, we are doing everything that is necessary, and not just for the United States, for ourselves as well, as Canadians are suffering as well from the scourge that is illegal fentanyl.

We have laid out extensive plans, actions, cooperations, including as recently as the past days in Washington, and they have always been very well-received. And the numbers bear that out.

I think in what President Trump said yesterday, that there is nothing Canada or Mexico can do to avoid these tariffs, underlines very clearly what I think a lot of us have suspected for a long time, that these tariffs are not specifically about fentanyl, even though that is the legal justification he must use to actually move forward with these tariffs.

QUESTION (through translator): Have you talked to Mr. Trump besides that conversation?

(CROSSTALK)

TRUDEAU (through translator): I hope to talk to him in the future. I'm -- my door is open.

QUESTION: You're seeing the United States seemingly moving closer to Moscow. This is a same day that the United States has announced...

BROWN: We were just hearing there he's taking questions, the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, of Canada and saying that basically this idea that the reason for these tariffs is because of fentanyl is a false pretext. And he talks about all the things that Canada has done to crack down and that less than 1 percent of fentanyl that was seized at the U.S. border was from Canada.

Alayna, it struck me. You're at the White House. And I'm wondering.He talked about how he hasn't talked to Trump yet. He hopes to. He called him -- he tried to appeal to him directly, saying, Donald. And he said you're a smart man, but this is dumb, saying that he agreed with "The Wall Street Journal."

[11:25:17]

Is there any reaction from the White House, Alayna?

TREENE: From the moments that we have heard him say that, not yet that I have heard, Paula.

But, look, this is something -- or, Pamela. Excuse me. This is something that I think is definitely going to receive a reaction from the president and the White House. This is some of the strongest language we have heard yet from the prime minister.

A couple of things that really struck out to me -- stuck out to me from what he has said. He said that they have stepped up, that they have been engaging repeatedly in conversations, as recently in the last couple of days, with the Trump administration, that they are doing everything that they can.

As you mentioned, I think the point where he was addressing Donald, he was addressing the president directly by name, using that harsh language, going on to say, we have worked together, we have had a relationship for several years, we have done big things together, we should be working together now, all things that we have heard him say in maybe more nicer or friendlier terms before, but now you're hearing very direct, harsh language from the prime minister.

Look, I mean, from what the president said yesterday and what has been kind of clear is he said yesterday that he doesn't believe there's any more room to negotiate when it comes to what Canada and Mexico are doing. He has said very clearly that he believes they aren't doing enough in fentanyl. You heard the prime minister argue that he doesn't believe that's actually what these tariffs are about.

And then, today, you have heard a lot of Donald Trump's Cabinet members, people like Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary. You have heard Peter Navarro, the -- a key trade adviser to the president, argue that if they do see some real changes in stemming the flow of migrants and fentanyl from coming over the border, that perhaps these tariffs will be called off.

But, clearly, this is a huge deterioration with allies that we have had. And one thing, of course, I think the real change that we could see is in the reaction that the president and the White House has to how the United States' economy is being impacted.

Already, over the last couple of days, the last two days, we have seen the stock market drop some 1,300 points. We're seeing different companies like Target saying prices are going to increase. That is something as well that will ignite some sort of reaction from this White House.

BLITZER: Yes, we see the Dow Jones industrials down now just today 788 points, at least so far, now 790 points.

We heard the prime minister, Alayna, cite "The Wall Street Journal" editorial, today's "Wall Street Journal," usually a conservative editorial page. The headline is: "Trump Takes the Dumbest Tariff Plunge."

And it writes this: "We have courted Mr. Trump's ire by calling the Mexico and Canada levies the dumbest in history. And we may have understated the point. Mr. Trump is whacking friends, not adversaries."

And it's interesting, because this U.S.-Canada relationship, which has always been so strong, so powerful, has now deteriorated to where this is going on.

BROWN: It's stunning. And he talked about the fact that this is exactly what our adversaries want, to see this deterioration of an alliance that has so much history, Wolf.

BLITZER: I want to bring in retired U.S. Army General former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark. He's joining us right now.

General Clark, thanks so much for joining us.

Let me, first of all, get your reaction to Prime Minister Trudeau's condemnation of what the Trump administration is doing here.

WESLEY CLARK, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think he's exactly right when he says that it's not about fentanyl. What is it about? What is it about when you want to sever the relationship with your closest ally?

You're worried about Chinese and Russian ships in the Arctic. And so we're going to have a breach of our work with Canada? It doesn't make sense. And so when you try to understand this, it doesn't make economic sense. It doesn't make strategic sense. It's just a break in the way that the U.S. operates.

And, yes, the market's going down, Wolf, because when you look at something like this, it's not just about the tariffs. It's about the credibility of the United States. It's about the trustworthiness of the president. It's about what kind of leadership he brings to the United States.

There were issues in the election. People knew this. People were concerned about the economy. Let's look at the economy. But I'm concerned about what's happening in global affairs and U.S. security. And when I see what's being done to Canada, a nation that's always been our ally, when I was NATO commander, I couldn't have gotten any stronger support from any nation than I did from Canada, as strong as the support I had from the United States.

And yet here we are isolating Canada and isolating the United States, really, from our nearest neighbors. It's a real threat to U.S. security.

BLITZER: It's certainly...

CLARK: It's not about fentanyl. It's about how to keep America safe, and this isn't the way to do it.