Canadian leaders call for a firm reaction to Trump's tariff warning, says the official

Image Credit: Reuters

Some Canadian leaders are encouraging Ottawa to react strongly to the potential tariffs from incoming U.S. President Donald Trump and have pointed out important minerals and metals as items that the U.S. depends on, Canada’s Finance Minister mentioned on Wednesday.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other Cabinet members met with provincial leaders to talk about Trump’s promise to levy high tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports once he takes office in January. This promise has raised concerns about a trade conflict between the U.S. and its two largest trade partners.

“A number of premiers expressed strong support for a strong Canadian reaction that included some of the premiers specifically naming key minerals and metals that their provinces create, and which are sent to the United States,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told the press after the meeting.

Canada’s focus right now is on communicating with U.S. officials, Freeland noted, adding that Canadian business and labor leaders are also reaching out to their U.S. counterparts.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford mentioned that energy exports to the United States could also be stopped, without giving more specifics.

Ontario sends electricity to the U.S., but it does not produce any of the 4 million barrels daily of oil that Canada transports south.

“We’ll use every option available to us, including cutting off energy exports that we’re sending down,” Ford told reporters.

Trudeau stated on Monday that Canada would fight against unfair tariffs, just as it did during the previous Trump administration when Ottawa imposed tariffs on products such as bourbon, Harley Davidson motorcycles, and cherries.

Trump has claimed he will maintain protectionist trade policies until Canada and Mexico take stronger actions on drugs and migrants crossing the borders into the U.S.

The federal government also talked about planned border security measures with the premiers, stated Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc, adding that Canada will share those details with Trump’s team once they are completed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author.