Chrystia Freeland says that a unified stance towards China will give Canada a “firm foundation” in upcoming trade negotiations with the United States and president-elect Donald Trump.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Freeland spoke to reporters Friday after the first meeting of the newly revived cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations, which she will again chair.
She compared the committee to the task force struck during the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing ministers together regularly to address an “urgent issue.” In this case, it’s the Canada-U.S. relationship, which is set to see the border and trade relations in the spotlight under the incoming Trump administration.
Trump, who was declared the winner of the 2024 U.S. presidential election on Wednesday, promised during the campaign that he would levy blanket tariffs on all goods coming into the country as part of his economic strategy. He also said he would look to renegotiate the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which was signed under his first administration.
News that Trump is set to return to the White House in 2025 has spurred consternation among leaders in Canada’s steel and aluminum industries. The first Trump administration levied 25-per cent tariffs on Canadian steel and 10-per cent tariffs on aluminum in 2018, a tactic that lasted for roughly a year and saw Canada impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.
But Freeland said Friday that Canada “learned a lot” from its negotiations with Trump in his first term.
“What’s important about that whole experience is that Canada and the United States agreed, at the end of the day, that it didn’t make sense for our two countries to have those tariffs imposed,” she said.
“To me, that is a very powerful proof point of really the fundamental economic rationale, the fundamental economic benefit that both countries get from the economic relationship.”
Freeland also pointed to shared steps taken this year in Canada and the U.S. to levy tariffs against Chinese steel, aluminum and electric vehicles.
Positioning the geographic neighbours as a united front against China, Freeland argued that the U.S. will see in Canada a reliable trading partner who can match the American juggernaut on its economic and geopolitical priorities.
“Canada is very aligned with the United States in that respect. And that’s a final area where I see a firm foundation for our work together,” she said.
David MacNaughton, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. during Trump’s term in office, told Mercedes Stephenson on The West Block last week that American officials on both sides of the aisle were “pleased” that Canadian trade policy had aligned with the U.S. on China.
“I think we’ve got to be seen to be in lockstep with them as far as what the China relationship is, because if we’re not, we’re going to have real problems,” he said.
Brian Kingston, the president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association, told Global News this week that he sees Canada being able to carve out exemptions from Trump’s tariff proposals by becoming a preferred source for critical minerals as the U.S. shifts away from China.
“If a Trump administration moves more aggressively on its approach to China, Canada is perfectly placed to be that strong partner and ally and to help that transition take place. So I think there is an opportunity,” he says.
“If we combine that with an effort to increase our mining capacity and be that supplier of choice to the Americans, I think we could come out of this in a much better position.”
Freeland, who met with Canadian steel producers in Hamilton, Ont., on Thursday, acknowledged that the country has more to do on the trade front, particularly in cracking down on circumvention that can see exporters send steel through friendly borders to skirt costly tariffs.
But when she was asked Friday whether she was the right person to negotiate with Trump in a second and final term, Freeland was adamant that she was ready for the renewed pressure.
She also highlighted her relationship with Robert Lighthizer, Trump’s former trade czar who is expected to play a key role in the president-elect’s second administration as well.
“In my experience, President Trump respects strength and he respects people and countries who are strong and clear in defending their countries, in defending their national interest,” Freeland said.
“That’s what I’ve always done, and that’s what I will continue to do.”
— with files from Global News’s Sean Boynton