Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a “Team Canada approach” is going to be vital in the face of sweeping new tariffs being pledged by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.
Trudeau said he had a “good call” with Trump, who announced Monday night that he will sign an executive order imposing a 25 per cent tariff on all products coming in to United States from Canada and Mexico once he comes into office.
“We obviously talked about laying out the facts, talking about how the intense and effective connections between our two countries flow back and forth,” Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa before a cabinet meeting.
“We talked about some of the challenges that we can work on together. It was a good call.”
Trudeau said he has already been in contact with several premiers, including Ontario’s Doug Ford and Quebec’s François Legault, and a first ministers’ meeting will be held this week to talk about the U.S.
“This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on, and that’s what we’ll do,” Trudeau said.
“One of the really important things is that we be all pulling together on this. The Team Canada approach is what works.”
Could Canada retaliate?
Ontario Premier Doug Ford did not rule out retaliating to Trump’s plan if it goes into effect.
“Well, hopefully we won’t come to that. But if it does, there is no choice, we have to retaliate,” he said at a news conference in Toronto on Tuesday.
“We have to retaliate not against the Americans, the administration that has made a wrong call on us. It’s very simple.”
Trump has said the tariffs will remain in place until both countries stop drugs, in particular fentanyl, and people from illegally crossing the borders.
“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social page.
“We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”
A joint statement from Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Ottawa will continue to discuss border security issues with the incoming administration.
Ford said the first ministers’ meeting will take place Wednesday evening, with the focus on how provincial and territorial governments can secure Canada’s borders.
“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that we understand their concerns, address their concerns, and make sure that we have a strong economic tie.”
Trump’s announcement has been criticized by political leaders across Canada.
Ford called it the “biggest threat” from the U.S. administration in decades and said it’s “very, very hurtful to Canadians and Americans” on both sides of the border.
“We love our American friends and they love us and this is no way to treat your closest ally.”
“I hope we can come up with a solution, to support both sides of the border. We’re collaboratively in cooperation with the new administration, and I’m confident we will.”
Quebec Premier François Legault tweeted that everything must be done to avoid the tariffs, and British Columbia Premier David Eby posted Trump’s tariffs “would hurt Canadians and Americans alike.”
“Canadians must stand united. Ottawa must respond with strength,” Eby tweeted.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in a social media post that the Trump administration has “valid concerns related to illegal activities” at the border. But she noted vast majority of her province’s energy exports to the U.S. are “delivered through secure and safe pipelines” which she said “do not in any way contribute to these illegal activities.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Trump has “made an unjustified threat” on “our already weak and shrinking economy.”
“We actually need to do is stand up for our economy by axing taxes, unleashing free enterprise, and having a massive boom in our energy and resource production and standing up for our country against unfair tariffs,” he said at a news conference in Ottawa Tuesday.
When asked by a reporter if he would be willing to retaliate to Trump’s pledged move, Poilievre responded: “If necessary.”
Business groups raise concern
There is also growing concern among business groups in Canada.
Canadian American Business Council CEO Beth Burke said in a statement Monday night that Trump’s proposal would harm businesses on both sides of the border and would “erode the economic and geopolitical strength of North America.”
Modelling by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce suggests a 10 per cent across-the-board tariff would reduce the size of the Canadian economy between 0.9 and one per cent, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
It estimates the U.S. would see around US$125 billion a year in economic costs.
“For the American businesses and for American consumers, this would mean higher prices and increased costs for input and less competitive business environment for America as well,” the chamber’s chief economist, Stephen Tapp, said in an interview with The Canadian Press on Monday.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said Trump’s tariff announcement “has already sent shockwaves through Canadian markets.”
According to the CFIB, small and medium-sized businesses account for approximately 40 per cent of exports to the U.S.
“Any disruption to the flow of goods between the US and Canada would be a major economic hit,” CFIB president Dan Kelly said in a statement.
“Tariffs would not just affect our exporters as their effect on the value of the Canadian dollar would increase the cost of US imports — affecting small businesses and consumers alike.”
Several cabinet ministers also weighed in on the threat from Trump, with Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne saying that it should be taken seriously.
“President Trump is not president for two month, so we still have a number of weeks to engage.”
Champagne said the bottom line is that “we’ll stand up for Canada” and its workers.
Housing Minister Sean Fraser also said that “this is an extremely important time to continue to engage with our partners” in the U.S.
“They are a long-standing ally, and we’re going to do what we can to work through these kinds of challenges to ensure we protect the interests of Canadians,” Fraser told reporters.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller said that both Ottawa and Washington have “shared interests” in making the situation “manageable and controlled” at the border.
Miller said regardless of the plans down south, Canada is considering a “number of measures” to strengthen security at the border.
“We’re looking at a number of measures and that absolutely includes additional resources.”
— with files from The Canadian Press