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Prime Minister Mark Carney says retaliatory measures are being considered if his government can’t reach a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump before his new tariffs take effect.
“Everything is on the table depending on the outcome of the negotiations,” Carney told reporters following a meeting with the 13 premiers in Charlottetown on Thursday.
Their face-to-face follows a threat from the White House to slap 50 per cent tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of Canadian imports come Aug. 19.
“If these tariffs or other measures come into force there’s a full range of things that we can do,” said Carney.
The prime minister wouldn’t say what reprisals are in his back pocket, calling it “counterproductive” to talk retaliation with negotiations underway.
“But it’s important to know what your options are,” he said
Asked whether the Aug. 19 tariff deadline is an opportunity to reach an end-game deal with the U.S. or a pressure tactic, Prime Minister Mark Carney said ‘it’s both.’ Speaking at a press conference after meeting with Canada’s premiers on Thursday, Carney said the U.S. has shown a level of engagement this week ‘that reflects the seriousness of the trade relationship and the breadth of the issues.’
The agenda for meetings between the country’s leaders this week in P.E.I. was upended on Monday when the White House announced the new tariffs, calling them a response to what it sees as Canadian discrimination against American motor vehicles, dairy and alcohol.
The new tariffs would hit over $20 billion of Canadian goods — including alcohol, electronics and hockey sticks — and is expected to hurt Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia the hardest.
Carney said he sees this latest deadline as a real opportunity to reach a trade deal — while also agreeing it’s a classic Trump pressure tactic.
“It’s both,” he said. But “there’s a level of engagement and breadth of engagement that reflects the seriousness of the trade relationship.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada isn’t leaving anything off the table when it comes to dealing with the U.S.’s incoming 50 per cent tariffs on goods covered by a North American trade deal. Carney made the remarks at the First Minister’s Meeting in Charlottetown, where Canada’s premiers are gathering to discuss how to respond to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats.
The question of retribution had been a pressure point during the provincial and territorial leaders’ annual summer get-together.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been advocating for a more aggressive approach, including withholding Canada’s potash and oil to “dismantle” the United States.
“It’s very hard to deal with President Trump when he changes his mind every single day,” said Ford.
“One day, the prime minister is with him side by side, and the next thing you know, President Trump turns on him like a rabid dog.”
Oil as leverage ‘a very dumb decision’: Smith
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she doesn’t support retaliatory tariffs, especially when it comes to oil.
“I’m going to try to prevent Canada from making a very dumb decision of putting energy on the table because Line 5 goes through Michigan,” she told CBC’s Power & Politics, referring to the pipeline that moves around 540,000 barrels per day of oil and natural gas across the Canada-U.S. border.
“If you cut off energy to the United States, they can cut off Line 5 and cut off energy to Ontario and Quebec. So no aviation fuel, no diesel, no gasoline. And we don’t want to do that,” Smith said.
“I don’t think you go into a negotiation promising to punch someone in the nose. You go into negotiation talking about a win-win.”
Premiers insist on unity
Despite some disagreement emerging about how to negotiate, the premiers have been emphatic that they are united in a “Team Canada” approach to the trade war.
“Yeah, there’s different opinions, but you need different opinions to come up with a solid strategy,” said Northwest Territories Premiers R.J. Simpson after the meeting.
“I come out of there every time feeling very united. I think about the United States, they have nothing like this.”
Stressing the unity theme, Carney didn’t pass up an opportunity to use Charlottetown’s history as the gathering spot for the Fathers of Confederation.
He noted that was a time when “trade barriers were holding back economic growth, major infrastructure projects increasingly required co-operation across jurisdictions and the threat of American invasion loomed large.
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“Plus ça change,” he said to the premiers. “What the Fathers of our Confederation suspected then, we know acutely today: that our unity is our greatest strength, and that our destiny is in our hands.”
The premiers, in a joint communiqué Wednesday, urged the Carney government “to maintain a clear, timely consultation process with provinces and territories during negotiations.”
Source: cbc
