Justin Trudeau has known as an emergency assembly with provincial premiers throughout Canada after the US president-elect, Donald Trump, threatened a 25% tariff on the US’ northern neighbour.
Trump posted on social media that he would “signal all crucial paperwork” to cost Mexico and Canada a 25% tariff on all items merchandise coming into the US, including the levy would stay in place till “such time as medication, particularly fentanyl, and all unlawful aliens cease this invasion of our nation!”
The Canadian prime minister mentioned on Tuesday he had held a “good” dialog with Trump shortly after the social media submit, working to tamp down fears of an immense financial hit to Canada. He didn’t say if Canada would impose retaliatory tariffs, because it did throughout a earlier spherical of commerce hostilities throughout Trump’s first presidency.
“We talked about how the extreme and efficient connections between our two international locations movement forwards and backwards,” he instructed reporters. “We talked about a few of the challenges that we are able to work on collectively.”
Given the US, Canada and Mexico renegotiated a commerce pact in 2018 and have deeply intertwined provide chains, a levy of 25% would show devastating to Canada’s financial system. The US stays Canada’s greatest buying and selling accomplice, with practically C$600bn in items exported to the US final 12 months.
Canadian ministers reacted with measured skepticism over the important thing claims made by Trump on immigration and drug trafficking.
Whereas a small however rising variety of migrants are utilizing Canada as a method into the US, much more folks enter by means of Mexico. Canada’s immigration minister, Marc Miller, likened the 23,000 interceptions by US officers on the northern border final 12 months to a “vital weekend on the Mexico border”, the place 1,530,523 “encounters” have been recorded final 12 months.
On the subject of the motion of fentanyl throughout the continent, so little enters the US by means of its northern border that the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) doesn’t even point out Canada in a report from 2020, as an alternative citing Mexico, China and India.
“The quantity of fentanyl that crosses the US-Canadian border is mainly homeopathic!” wrote Toronto-based journalist John Michael McGrath on X, critiquing individuals who “sanewash” Trump’s calls for. “This isn’t a critical demand! You don’t should be silly in public!”
However the rightwing premier of the oil-rich province of Alberta mentioned Trump had legitimate considerations over unlawful actions on the shared border.
“We’re calling on the federal authorities to work with the incoming administration to resolve these points instantly, thereby avoiding any pointless tariffs on Canadian exports to the US,” Danielle Smith mentioned in a social media submit.
“The overwhelming majority of Alberta’s power exports to the US are delivered by means of safe and protected pipelines which don’t in any method contribute to those unlawful actions on the border,” mentioned Smith, whose relations with Trudeau are icy.
For Trudeau, the tariff saga is more likely to revive bitter reminiscences of the commerce feud with the US throughout Trump’s first time period, when Canadian officers labored to reduce injury to the prized relationship with the US. At one level, Trump mentioned he was “very sad” with the negotiations, singling out Canada’s chief negotiator, the then overseas minister Chrystia Freeland, who now serves as finance minister and deputy overseas minister.
The specter of Trump’s tariffs pushed Canada’s predominant inventory change down on Tuesday and Candace Laing, the pinnacle of Canada’s chamber of commerce, warned that “being America’s ‘good neighbour’ received’t get us wherever” in an indication of the potential shift in relations between the longtime allies.
“To [Trump], it’s about winners and losers – with Canada on the shedding finish,” mentioned Laing in a press release on Tuesday. “Canada’s signature method must evolve: we have to be ready to take a few punches if we’re going to stake out our place. It’s time to commerce ‘sorry’ for ‘sorry, not sorry.’”
Trevor Tombe, an economist who authored a report on the implications of US tariffs on Canada’s financial system, warned a recession was possible if Trump adopted by means of on the 25% tax.
Canada’s premiers have additionally warned a commerce conflict would trigger immense injury to their respective economies. Trudeau mentioned provincial leaders will meet on Wednesday in an emergency assembly, calling for a “Workforce Canada” method.
The Ontario premier, Doug Ford, who oversees Canada’s largest provincial financial system, known as Trump’s threats “unfair” and mentioned it was “insulting” to match Canada to Mexico when it got here to immigration and potent medication.
“It’s like a member of the family stabbing you proper within the coronary heart,” Ford instructed reporters Tuesday. He additionally warned that if the president makes good on his promise, Canada might need little selection: “We have now to retaliate.”
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