N.B. premier says she’ll work with Ottawa to hit back at U.S. ‘where it hurts’

New Brunswick’s premier says she’s ready to work with the prime minister to hit the U.S. where it hurts.

Susan Holt says her government is working with Ottawa on retaliatory tariffs after Canada-U.S. trade talks broke down Friday evening.

Holt says New Brunswick wants Canada’s response to have the highest impact on the U.S. and the smallest impact on the province and the country.

The premier said the Trump administration’s new 50 per cent tariffs on $28 billion worth of Canadian goods will impact about $112 million worth of New Brunswick exports.

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That’s about 0.8 per cent of what the province sends to the U.S.

She said initial estimates are that about 500 New Brunswick jobs could be threatened, though the government will work to soften the blow.

“We need to see something that is going to hit (the U.S.) where it hurts and have an impact,” Holt told reporters Monday. “And then we are going to need to provide supports on the federal side, and on the provincial side, to counterbalance the negative impact of those tariffs at home.”