The Canadian government is preparing billions of dollars in retaliation against U.S. exports to Canada if President-elect Donald J. Trump follows through on his threat to impose tariffs on Canadian goods, making it one of their two largest trading nations. There is a possibility of a showdown between the two countries. partner.
Canada has announced a list of measures that could include tariffs on U.S. exports to Canada and levies and other restrictions on major Canadian exports to the U.S. if Trump imposes a steep 25% tariff on Canadian goods. I’m putting it together.
But the government has made clear it will wait to see how Trump reacts before responding.
“Everything is on the table,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a news conference in Ottawa, flanked by senior government officials and leaders of most of Canada’s provinces and territories. Trudeau spent much of Wednesday talking with state leaders about how best to prepare for potential U.S. tariffs.
For now, the Canadian government is working under the assumption that Mr. Trump is serious about tariffs, which he has linked to illegal immigration and drugs flowing across the U.S.-Canada border.
Canada has already announced a series of measures aimed at strengthening its borders, including increasing personnel and technology. The government announced Wednesday it would deploy Black Hawk helicopters and more drones to increase surveillance of the shared border.
But in recent weeks, Mr. Trump has made comments suggesting that border security may not be the only motive behind potential tariffs on Canadian goods. The president-elect has repeatedly talked about Canada becoming another U.S. state and even threatened to annex it through economic power.
Mr. Trump argued that while Canada has a trade surplus with the United States, the United States provides important defense guarantees to Canada, and that the relationship favors Canada and the imbalance needs to be addressed. .
Trump’s comments have sparked distrust and anger among Canada’s political leaders.
Any tariffs would violate the trade agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada, originally known as NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), which was renegotiated during Trump’s first presidency. It is scheduled to be updated next year, but any country that introduces tariffs could violate the agreement and invalidate it.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that Canada stands ready to respond with equal aggressiveness to any aggressive economic policies by the incoming Trump administration.
“I support the principle of dollar-for-dollar correspondence,” Prime Minister Trudeau said. Officials said this could result in Canada imposing tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods exported to the United States.
Canada could impose tariffs on key U.S. imports such as orange juice, officials said, but Prime Minister Trudeau said Wednesday that any tariffs imposed by either government would ultimately affect both countries and their consumers. admitted that it would cause damage.
Debate over how to deal with potentially devastating tariffs has strained relations between Canada’s federal government in the capital, Ottawa, and powerful provincial leaders.
While most prime ministers are united behind Mr. Trudeau and are pushing for a “Team Canada” approach, some are speaking to the contrary.
Daniel Smith, leader of Alberta, a key source of U.S. oil, said targeting oil exports to the U.S. would strengthen Canadian interests even as the province’s key resource would be destroyed. He has repeatedly stated that he does not agree with this. negotiation hand.
Smith, who traveled alone to Mar-a-Lago this week to meet with Trump, attended Wednesday’s meeting remotely and did not sign the joint statement released by state leaders and Trudeau. Instead she released her own statement.
“Federal government officials have publicly and privately touted the idea of cutting off energy supplies to the United States and imposing export tariffs on Alberta’s energy and other products to the United States,” Smith said in a statement to X. I mentioned it in the post. Stopping this would leave Alberta completely unable to support the federal government’s plan to deal with the threatened tariffs. ”
Prime Minister Trudeau, government officials, and premiers of other provinces He made it clear that tariffs on oil exports should remain on the negotiating table as a way to put pressure on the Trump administration.
About 80 percent of Canada’s oil is exported to the United States, and the United States relies on Canada for more than half of its oil.
If Canada retaliates with its own tariffs, “it has to be fair across the country,” Trudeau said.
Prime Minister Trudeau announced this month that he plans to resign by early March, when his Liberal Party will elect a new leader to become prime minister. The country is expected to head to a federal election shortly thereafter, in the spring, and the first phase of the new Trump administration will essentially be led by a lame duck leader.
