All 13 provincial and territorial leaders of Canada were in America on Wednesday to warn US lawmakers about the potential fallout of President Trump’s proposed tariffs on Canadian imports.
Toronto Star reports that Canada has taken its concern about US President Donald Trump’s tariffs to the belly of the beast.
Federal, provincial, and territorial officials were at the White House to urge the Trump administration not to impose the levies that would damage the Canadian and American economies.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had warned that Canada would respond “in an equally unequivocal way” if the president stacked tariffs upon tariffs and that Canada would impose countermeasures against American imports.
While speaking in Brussels after meetings with European and NATO leaders, Trudeau said, “It’s not our choice. We don’t want to be doing that, but we will, regardless of the level of tariffs that eventually the administration might move forward on, we will be equally unequivocal in our response.”
In Washington, federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc met with Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick and Kevin Hassett, Trump’s economic adviser, and updated them on the appointment of former RCMP deputy commissioner Kevin Brosseau as “fentanyl czar” to curb cross-border drug trafficking.
After his meeting with the duo and Canada’s ambassador to the US Kirsten Hillman, LeBlanc said: “So, I’m optimistic that conversation is very constructive. I’m also optimistic that we have a better understanding of the process that Mr Lutnick is going through in terms of April 1 … global tariff decisions.
“We also discussed, obviously, our concern around steel and aluminium tariffs.”
However, LeBlanc said Trump’s musings about making Canada the 51st state did not come up in the discussion.
For the first time, all 13 provincial and territorial leaders were in the American capital at the same time. They secured an afternoon meeting at the White House with Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Jim Blair, and Sergio Gor, director of the presidential personnel office.
Ontario’s Doug Ford said the provincial leaders were “very grateful” for the audience. He said: “People don’t get last-minute meetings like this.”
While the premiers met with the aides, Trump was nearby in the Oval Office rolling out more tariffs.
