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Canadian premiers respond to Donald Trump’s tariff threat
They say that Canada needs to be ready to fight.
A US and a Canadian flag flutter at the Canada-United States border. / REUTERS/Lars Hagberg/File Photo
The recent mocking of Justin Trudeau by Donald Trump has made Canadian politicians sit up and consider ways and means of thwarting the impending challenge. Process of holding consultations with the Premiers of the provinces and territories has started in right earnest.
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, accompanied by some of his Cabinet colleagues, had a “long and meaningful” interaction with Premiers, a day after the US President-elect Donald Trump, repeated his joke of addressing Trudeau as “governor” of the “51st State.” This is the second time Trudeau met with Premiers since the US President-elect threatened to hit Canada with steep tariffs last month. Incidentally, it is the first meeting since Justin Trudeau’s dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
Ontario Premier Ford, who after the meeting, threatened to cut energy supply to the US in case Donald Trump insisted on his “tariffs” threat, commented that Ottawa’s plan is a ‘good start’, and ‘Canada needs to be ready to fight.’
The US President-elect made a categoric statement declaring that on his first day back in office on Jan.20, he would impose 25 percent tariffs on goods coming in from Canada and Mexico unless both countries stop what he called an "invasion" of drugs, especially Fentanyl, and “all Illegal Aliens" into the US.
While Premiers made various suggestions, Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford told reporters at Queen's Park that federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will put together a list of items upon which Canada could impose retaliatory tariffs and so will the Ontario government.
"We will go to the full extent depending how far this goes. We will go to the extent of cutting off their energy, going down to Michigan, going down to New York State and over to Wisconsin. I do not want this to happen, but my number one job is to protect Ontario, Ontarians and Canadians as a whole since we are the largest province," Ford said.
"Let us see what happens as we move forward. But we will use every tool in our toolbox, including cutting them off energy that we are sending down there," he added.
Canada has promised to strengthen its border security even without the US President-elect sharing any evidence about illicit Fentanyl pouring into the US from Canada.
Ford said putting tariffs on Canadian goods would be a big problem for Canada and the US. Asked why he is talking about retaliatory tariffs, he said Trump appears serious about wanting to impose tariffs and the talk is not bluster.
"I think he is being a little more aggressive than he was in the past, and I say this respectfully to the President, he is a different type of cat, to say the least," Ford said. "And maybe I'm a different type of cat, but you know, I have never seen, not so much aggression, but so matter of fact. He did not come across this way last time. And it is not helpful for both sides of the border."
Reinforcing the border is a federal responsibility but the province will support efforts to strengthen it in the face of the tariff threat, he added revealing that he asked Justin Trudeau for more Canada Border Services Agency officers and RCMP officers. He said the federal government has agreed to "more boots on the ground" in Ontario and is prepared to fulfil his request for better communication among police agencies, more drones at the border and more patrol dogs.
Ford added that Ontario would love to continue to ship its energy to the US.
At the virtual meeting, reports said the Prime Minister outlined ways the federal government was planning to address some of Trump's concerns about the border. Those measures include further restrictions on the chemical precursors used to make fentanyl and improving coordination between the RCMP and other police forces.
“Details of the government plans will be made public in the coming days,” remarked Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who was at the meetings with the Premiers and the dinner with Trump. "We are going to incorporate many of the positive suggestions that the premiers made into finalizing our border plan and then, obviously, a priority will be to share details of this plan with the incoming Trump administration and with Canadians," he told reporters after the meeting.
He further said that the premiers responded positively to the border plan presented by the federal government and offered suggestions on collaboration during a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on US-Canada relations ahead of president-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House.
Previously, he said, the government was looking at buying additional equipment to tighten up the border, including helicopters and drones.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland disclosed that Premiers proactively identified products that their provinces produce and export to the United States that should be targets for a Canadian response to threatened US tariffs. "During the NAFTA negotiations, I learned that it is important not to get ahead of ourselves and it is important never to answer hypothetical questions. I think we also learned that Canada needs to hope for the best and prepare for the worst," she said after the meeting.
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