Canada will be ‘unequivocal’ in its response to U.S. tariffs: Trudeau

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OTTAWA — Canadians do not want to engage in a trade war with the United States, but they will be “equally unequivocal” in their response if the U.S. enacts its threats of tariffs in the coming weeks, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday.

“I think it’s important to understand that Canada will respond as appropriate in a calibrated but extremely strong way, regardless of what the U.S. moves forward with,” said Trudeau, who was holding meetings in Brussels to discuss trade and defence spending.

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“We don’t want to be doing that, but we will, regardless of the level of tariffs that eventually the administration might move forward on, be equally unequivocal in our response.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has been threatening to impose 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, starting March 12. But those tariffs would be stacked on top of other levies on Canadian goods, a White House official confirmed on background.

If Trump makes good on his promise to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods on March 4 — exception made for energy which would be subject to a lesser 10 per cent tariff — that means Canadian steel and aluminum could be subject to 50 per cent tariffs.

Trudeau said he cautioned U.S. Vice President JD Vance against that promise when both men were in Paris for a global summit on artificial intelligence earlier this week, warning about the impact of tariffs in Ohio, the state he represented in the U.S. Senate.

“I highlighted the $2.2 billion worth of steel and aluminum exports from Canada go directly into the Ohio economy, often to contribute to manufacturing that happens there,” he said.

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Trudeau described their encounter as a “quick greeting exchange” and said Vance “nodded and noted” what he was saying “but it wasn’t a longer exchange than that.”

But those conversations, he said, are part of the wider “Team Canada” effort which saw all 13 premiers in Washington, D.C., for the first time this week, on top of officials and ministers, telling their U.S. counterparts just how interconnected their countries are.

On Wednesday afternoon, the premiers were able to bring their message directly to the White House as they managed to secure a meeting with some of Trump’s senior advisers, according to a spokesperson of the Council of the Federation Secretariat.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew described this week’s exercise as a “charm offensive.”

“The purpose of the trip here is not for us to come down and try to issue ultimatums and things like that. The purpose of the trip here is diplomacy,” Kinew said.

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“Of course, as Canadians, we’re always going to be able to stand up for ourselves. We always put our Canadian values first, but in this moment, it’s crucial for us to use this window that we have with no tariffs to try and keep things that way,” he added.

Doug Ford, who is running for reelection as Ontario’s premier, said he is “not too sure” that Americans fully understand the impact tariffs will have on both sides of the border.

“Inflation will happen. Interest rates will go up. Plants will be closed on both sides of the border,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “The more we communicate, the better it is.”

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said Canada’s efforts have already produced results.

“We heard the tariffs were going to come in place on January 20, and they didn’t. We heard tariffs were going to come in place in February and they didn’t. We now have a reprieve till March … We’re seeing that progress and how the tariffs continue to get pushed off.”

Trump agreed last week to a 30-day reprieve on tariffs on all Canadian goods after Trudeau announced $155 billion in retaliatory tariffs but also after he agreed to beef up security at the border and to name a “fentanyl czar” to fight against the illegal entry of drugs.

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That fentanyl czar, former RCMP deputy commissioner Kevin Brosseau, came into office on Wednesday. He said he hopes to bring an “integrated approach” with public safety and national security officials fighting against the fentanyl crisis on both sides of the border.

Despite swift movement at the border, the fact that Trump is constantly moving the goalpost and threatening higher tariffs on Canada is not lost on premiers. Some of them now want an early review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade deal — and a federal election.

“I think the sooner we get a government with a four-year mandate, the sooner we can open that up and solve the broader range of tariff issues that we have,” said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

Quebec Premier François Legault says a looming question, now that Trudeau will be stepping down, is if the U.S. will accept to negotiate with a “temporary” prime minister.

“We can’t continue like this in reacting each week to new threats.”

— With a file from the Canadian Press.

National Post
calevesque@postmedia.com

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