Some Canadian premiers are calling on the government to respond strongly to tariff threats from President-elect Donald Trump, Canada’s Finance Minister said Wednesday, according to Reuters.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with premiers as well as other government ministers Wednesday to discuss Trump’s vow to impose tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico when he returns to the Oval Office, according to Reuters. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday that Canada could stall energy exports to the U.S. in response, Reuters reported.
Under the previous Trump administration, Canada responded to U.S. tariffs by placing tariffs on various goods including bourbon, cherries and Harley Davidson motorcycles, Reuters reported.
“A number of premiers offered strong support for a robust Canadian response that included some of the premiers proactively naming critical minerals and metals that their provinces produce, and which are exported to the United States,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
The president-elect has embraced tariffs, previously calling them the most “beautiful” word and proposing sweeping tariffs across various industries. Trump threatened in November to impose 100% tariffs on any BRICS nation that abandons the U.S. dollar and vowed in September to impose 200% tariffs on John Deere products if the company relocates its manufacturing operations to Mexico.
Trudeau met with the president-elect in Mar-a-Largo in November after Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Mexico and Canada unless both countries do more to control their border with the U.S. to prevent the flow of illegal drugs and illegal immigrants into the states. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also hinted at retaliation if Trump imposes tariffs on her country.
There has been a surge of illegal migrant crossings at the northern border under the Biden-Harris administration. There were 18,944 encounters at the northern border in August alone, according to data from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). There have been 198,929 total encounters at the northern border in the 2024 fiscal year, compared to 189,402 total encounters at the northern border in fiscal year 2023, the CBP data shows.
Bank of Canada Gov. Tiff Macklem said Wednesday that Trump’s proposed 25% tariff on imports could cause disruption to Canada’s economy, according to The Wall Street Journal. Over 20% of Canada’s gross domestic product is linked to trade with the U.S., the WSJ reported. U.S. goods and services trade with Canada amounted to an estimated $908.9 billion in 2022, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
“It’s going to be difficult for businesses to take decisions against that background,” Macklem said. “There is a risk that [business] investment is weaker.”
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