Canada’s premiers are meeting with Trudeau as Trump’s tariffs could be days away

The premiers will gather in Ottawa Wednesday to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and discuss a looming threat that has the potential to throw the economy into a tailspin: president-elect Donald Trump’s promised tariffs on all Canadian goods.

Trump is set to take office on Jan. 20 and then quickly implement his campaign commitment to levy punishing tariffs on imports from some countries, including Canada, to try and prompt a crackdown on illegal drugs and migrants coming into the U.S.

Economists have said the expected 25 per cent tariff would be devastating to the Canadian economy, shaving billions of dollars off of the GDP (new window) and putting some crucial industries in jeopardy.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday it’s not going to be good if Trump does what he’s said he will do.

Ford said as many as 500,000 people in Ontario alone could be out of a job if a broad-based tariff scheme is implemented. The government may have to spend billions of dollars in stimulus to shore up a shaky economy, he said.

Canada’s response to the tariff threat will be at the centre of today’s first ministers’ meeting, which the premiers requested to get a better sense of what Ottawa has planned for the weeks ahead. Most of the 13 premiers will be in the nation’s capital, while some will join the conversation virtually.

To appease Trump’s demands, Ottawa has drawn up a border security plan that Trudeau is expected to share with the premiers at today’s meeting.

Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who has taken the lead on Canada-U.S. matters, showed parts of the border plan to Ford on Tuesday ahead of the larger meeting with other provincial and territorial leaders.

The premier, who is also serving as the chair of the Council of the Federation, told reporters that what he saw was phenomenal and called it a solid, solid plan.

Ottawa is planning to deploy more border and RCMP personnel along the 49th parallel, put more drones and helicopters in the sky over the border and fund the creation of some 80 new K9 units to better search for drugs like fentanyl at land crossings, among other initiatives, LeBlanc said.

WATCH | LeBlanc says all measures are on the table to protect Canada’s economy:

LeBlanc says ‘all options are on the table’ in response to U.S. tariffs

During a news conference in Toronto alongside Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc is asked if the federal government is considering the restriction of oil from Alberta to the United States in retaliation to possible tariffs. LeBlanc says the government has to see what the U.S. does, but added that it has to be ready to deploy all necessary measures to defend the Canadian economy.

If Trump isn’t satisfied with that plan and goes ahead with tariffs anyway, Canada is also preparing to fight back with possible retaliatory tariffs on everything from Florida orange juice and Kentucky bourbon to Pennsylvania steel, sources have told CBC News.

LeBlanc said everything is on the table as Canada braces for a trade war that could get ugly.

He has not ruled out stopping the flow of Canadian oil south into the U.S., he said.

We want to see what the American action is next week, if it comes next week, he said. I think we need to be ready to deploy all necessary measures.

Premiers make their case to Americans

Ford has said he’s willing to withhold Ontario energy exports to the U.S., which could put an estimated 1.5 million American households in a bind given how reliant some states are on the province’s electricity.

Since Trump’s election in November, many of the premiers have fanned out across the U.S. to try and convince Americans it’s a bad idea to take on Canada given the two economies are so intertwined.

A series of ads bankrolled by Ontario have been blanketing the U.S. airwaves for weeks, touting the value of a close Canada-U.S. relationship.

Trump hosted Alberta Premier Danielle Smith at his Mar-a-Lago estate over the weekend.

Smith said they had a friendly and constructive conversation and she stressed that her province’s vast oil reserves are crucial to North American energy security and the continent’s gas prices.

But Smith said she got no indication that Trump is rethinking his plan to slap tariffs on Canadian goods, which she said is motivated by his animosity over the U.S. trade deficit with Canada.

That trade deficit is largely driven by strong U.S. demand for Canadian oil and natural gas, which it buys at a discount relative to world prices for those commodities.

This article is republished from RCI.