Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Mark Carney will have to navigate a delicate balance during his first in-person meeting with Donald Trump today, following months of the U.S. president targeting Canada with tariffs and taunts.

Carney and Trump will meet at the White House and the prime minister has said he expects "difficult, but constructive" conversations.

Carney has said the meeting will mark the beginning of a larger economic and security agreement between Canada and the United States.

Prime Minister Mark Carney will be watched closely by Canadians infuriated by Donald Trump — and by an anxious business community looking for tariff relief — when he meets with the U.S. president Tuesday in Washington.

After months of Trump's annexation threats, the newly elected prime minister will be tasked with a delicate balancing act — showing strength while maintaining Canada's place in a critical North American trade pact the president's tariffs have sought to upend.

Prime Minister Mark Carney will address reporters shortly after the White House declared both Canada and Mexico exempt from new reciprocal tariffs announced today by U.S. President Donald Trump.

A fact sheet from Trump's office says goods imported under the existing continental trade deal, known as CUSMA, will not face tariffs, while those outside the deal will see a 10 per cent tariff.

Canada was left off a lengthy list Trump unveiled this afternoon showing the tariff levels most other countries will face starting Thursday.

Canadian officials said a Thursday meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was constructive and lowered temperatures amid the ongoing trade war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump last month — but they expected no immediate changes to punishing tariffs. 

"This was a constructive discussion," said Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne in Washington. "We have our disagreements, but as long as you have dialogue you are making progress."

U.S. President Donald Trump said Canada will pay a "financial price" after vowing Tuesday to double the tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum imports in response to Ontario's surcharge on electricity exports to the United States.

"They will pay a financial price for this so big that it will be read about in History Books for many years to come!" Trump posted on social media.

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that pauses tariffs on some Canadian imports linked to the auto industry that comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, and also lowers levies on potash to 10 per cent.

The order, read out in the Oval Office on Thursday, says the tariff relief is linked to maintaining the flow of parts to American car manufacturers and to helping farmers.

It was not clear exactly what would be included in the exemptions.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick says he expects President Donald Trump will pause tariffs on Canada and Mexico until April 2.

Lutnick told CNBC he expects an agreement today on goods he says are compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade.

His comments come a day after Trump granted a one-month exemption for any vehicles coming through CUSMA after the Big Three automakers had a conversation with the president.

A day into Donald Trump's North American trade war, the U.S. president remained adamant that tariffs would benefit America even as a key member of his team has floated that a compromise could materialize Wednesday.

Trump addressed a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, for the first time since he returned to office in January, by making a case for his massive tariff agenda. 

"We have been ripped off for decades by nearly every country on Earth and we will not let that happen any longer," Trump told lawmakers in Washington.

Canadians will be waking up to a new and uncertain reality after U.S. President Donald Trump's deadline for economy-wide tariffs passed with no relent overnight, triggering a continental trade war.

The president's executive order hitting Canada and Mexico with 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs, with a lower 10 per cent levy on Canadian energy, took effect at 12:01 a.m. ET.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, with a lower 10 per cent levy on Canadian energy, will start Tuesday, tipping the continent into a trade war.

"No room left for Mexico or for Canada (to make a deal)," Trump said at the White House.

Trump's executive order to implement economywide tariffs was delayed until Tuesday after Canada and Mexico agreed to introduce new security measures at the border.