Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to meet with Canada’s premiers on Wednesday to discuss the threat of tariffs from incoming U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.
The in-person meeting in Ottawa comes less than a week before Trump takes office for a second non-consecutive term on Jan. 20.
Trump has threatened to impose a sweeping 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods coming into the United States unless Canada increases border security.
Trudeau, in an interview with MSNBC that aired on Sunday, said Canada is ready to respond with retaliatory tariffs should Trump follow through with his threat.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has called on all political leaders in Canada to stop exporting critical minerals to the U.S. in response, saying on Monday that “there’s no quicker way to get Donald Trump to back away from tariffs.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who had urged Trudeau to meet with the premiers in person, has said that while an embargo on energy and critical mineral exports to the U.S. is the last thing he wants to see, Canada shouldn’t rule out any means to inflict economic pain on the U.S. if the tariff dispute escalates.
Speaking to reporters in Toronto on Tuesday, Ford said Ontario will be hardest hit by the tariffs among all the jurisdictions and the province is “looking at spending tens of billions of dollars” to protect workers.
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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith met with Trump at his Mar-a Lago home in Florida over the weekend. She said she “emphasized the mutual importance of the U.S. – Canadian energy relationship.”
Smith is not in favour of blocking energy exports to the U.S. and has cautioned Ottawa against that retaliatory move.
“Oil and gas is owned by the provinces, principally Alberta, and we won’t stand for that,” Smith told reporters in a virtual news conference on Monday.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has also pushed back on the idea of restricting Canadian energy and agricultural exports to the United States.
This is the second meeting on U.S.-Canada relations that Trudeau will convene with the premiers since Trump’s announcement in late November 2024.
It comes in the middle of a Liberal leadership race to find a replacement for Trudeau, who announced last week that he plans to step down.
At their last meeting on Dec. 11, 2024, which was held virtually, Trudeau shared an “overview” of the federal government’s plan to strengthen border security with the premiers and discussed potential responses to the tariff threat.
–with files from The Canadian Press
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