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MONTEBELLO, QUE. — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that “everything is on the table” in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods.
Trudeau said Trump is a ‘skilled negotiator’ who likes to keep people ‘a little bit off balance’
MONTEBELLO, QUE. — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that “everything is on the table” in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods.
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“I support the principle of dollar-for-dollar matching tariffs. It’s something that we are absolutely going to be looking at if that is how they move forward,” said Trudeau.
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The prime minister gathered his cabinet in a retreat at the Fairmont Chateau Montebello, an hour outside Ottawa in the Outaouais region, to focus solely on the U.S.-Canada relationship and discuss Canada’s response to “potential threats.”
After signing an executive order asking the Secretary of Commerce to investigate by April 1st the “causes” of the U.S.’ “large and persistent annual trade deficits in goods” and recommend “appropriate measures”, such as tariffs against Canada and Mexico, Trump told reporters on Monday evening that he would impose the tariffs sooner.
“I think we’ll do it Feb. 1,” Trump said. He said he will levy the tariffs on Canada for allowing “vast numbers of people to come in and fentanyl to come in,” to the United States.
In response to a question from a reporter about the shifting timelines coming from the Trump administration, Trudeau said that Trump is a “skilled negotiator” who likes to keep people “a little bit off balance.”
“We’ve been here before,” said Trudeau, referring to the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), during Trump’s first term.
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Canada’s Ambassador to the United States, Kirsten Hillman, indicated that the feds’ conversations with the Trump administration have moved from an “abstract discussion” to a more “concrete discussion”.
“Our focus is on remaining calm, remaining strong, and responding as necessary to actions by the United States,” said Trudeau.
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At a press conference, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne would not say whether Canada intended to threaten retaliatory measures against American companies such as Boeing or Lockhead Martin, chosen by National Defence to provide the country with a new fleet of F-35 fighter jets.
“We have spoken with many CEOs in the defense industry, but I never believed in threat. I believe in dialogue and looking at what we can do together. I can tell you is that U.S. defense industry and the military leaders I talked to (Monday in Washington) understand how Canada is critical to the supply chain,” said Champagne.
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Minister Champagne attended Donald Trump’s inauguration with International Trade Minister Mary Ng and Ambassador Hillman. They said they met with many stakeholders and U.S. elected officials to underline that Canada buys more U.S. goods than China, Japan, France and the United Kingdom combined, and that the U.S. sells more goods to Canada than to any other country.
But they also argued that nearly 8 million U.S. jobs are tied to trade with Canada.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Canada must hit the U.S. administration hard, retaliating with tariffs and recalling Parliament.
“Common Sense Conservatives are calling for Trudeau to reopen Parliament now to pass new border controls, agree on trade retaliation and prepare a plan to rescue Canada’s weak economy,” said Poilievre in a written statement.
On Tuesday, politicians and Canadians across the country remained concerned about the president’s intention to impose tariffs.
“The only thing Trump will understand is force. We need to fight back… We need to make sure that Americans will also feel the pain,” said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in a press conference in Toronto.
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Singh also said that Canadian workers should be compensated if tariffs were imposed.
Compensation has become a major issue in Canada since Trump’s comments were deemed “serious” by the prime minister, premiers and the business community.
Tuesday morning, Quebec Premier François Legault said that his government would protect Quebecers if president Trump acts on it.
“I want to send a very clear message to Quebecers: no matter what Trump does, we will protect you at all costs and we will get through this together,” he said.
His counterpart from British Columbia, David Eby, said that Canadian politicians “need to stick together as a country to defend jobs and the economic activities in this province”.
In Montebello, Prime Minister Trudeau did acknowledge that “there will be costs for Canadians if we move forward on tariffs for the United States”, but also pledged that his government “will be there to support and compensate Canadians and Canadian businesses”.
Monday night, the Prime Minister had a phone call with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who chairs the Council of the Federation. Tuesday morning, both politicians criticized the United States for entering a tariff war with its closest ally amid an increasing threat from China.
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“President Trump said that he wants to usher in a golden age for the United States that will require more steel and aluminum, more critical minerals, more reliable and affordable energy, more of everything to run the US economy full steam ahead,” said Primer Minister Trudeau.
“Canada has all those resources, and we stand at the ready to work with the United States to create a booming and secure North American economy.”
The alternative for the United States, Trudeau underlined, would be more resources from Russia, China or Venezuela.
In an Op-Ed published by the Wall Street Journal, Doug Ford argued that both countries should form a “Fortress Can-Am”.
“A costly trade and tariff war between the U.S. and Canada would benefit only China and Chinese-backed companies by creating economic uncertainty. China’s ban on the shipment of critical minerals to the U.S. is only the latest provocation. We won’t have to wait long for another,” wrote Premier Ford.
The cabinet met from Monday evening to Tuesday afternoon.
Justin Trudeau announced his resignation on Jan. 6 and was likely attending his last cabinet retreat as prime minister.
National Post
atrepanier@postmedia.com
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