Canadian premiers urge strong response to Trump tariff threat, minister says

12:20 pm Thursday, December 12th, 2024

By Nia Williams

(Reuters) – Some Canadian premiers are urging Ottawa to respond robustly to the threat of tariffs from incoming U.S. President Donald Trump and have highlighted critical minerals and metals as products the United States relies on, Canada’s finance minister said on Wednesday.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other government ministers met with provincial premiers to discuss Trump’s pledge to impose steep tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports after he is sworn in as president in January.

That pledge has raised fears of a trade war between the United States and two of its biggest trading partners.

“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 after the meeting.

Canada’s emphasis right now is on reaching out to U.S. officials, Freeland said, adding that Canadian business and labor leaders are also getting in touch with their U.S. counterparts.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said energy exports to the United States could also be halted, without giving details.

On Thursday he said he was speaking only for his province, which does not produce any of the 4 million barrels per day of oil that Canada ships south of the border, but does provide electricity for 1.5 million U.S. homes.

He said the premiers would meet again from Sunday to Tuesday to discuss potential responses.

Trudeau on Monday said Canada would respond to unfair tariffs, as it did during the last Trump presidency when Ottawa added tariffs to goods including bourbon, Harley Davidson motorcycles and cherries.

Trump has said he will keep protectionist trade measures in place until Canada and Mexico clamp down on drugs and migrants crossing the borders into the United States.

The federal government also discussed planned border security measures with the premiers, said Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc, adding that Canada would next share those details with Trump’s team once they are finalized.

(Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia and Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Michael Perry and Mark Porter)