Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that Canada must remain united in the face of US President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs. However, two major provinces quickly urged Trudeau to address concerns raised by Trump.
Trudeau, who is scheduled to meet this Wednesday with the governors of the 10 provinces to discuss relations with the United States, frequently points out that his Liberal government has four years of experience dealing with the first Trump administration.
On Monday, Trump announced that he would impose a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico until these countries took steps to combat drug trafficking, especially fentanyl, and control the flow of migrants crossing the border. A measure of this type would strongly impact the Canadian economy, which sends 75% of its exports to the United States.
“This is a relationship that we know requires constant work, and that’s what we will do,” Trudeau told reporters. “One of the really important things is that we all work together on this.”
Doug Ford, governor of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province and the country’s industrial hub, said Trump had valid reasons to be concerned about security along their long shared border.
Read: Tariff war between Mexico and the US will only increase inflation, experts warn
“Do we need to do a better job at our borders? One thousand percent (…) we have to address the threat of too many illegals crossing the border. We have to end illegal drugs and illegal weapons,” Ford told reporters.
Canada’s Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in Ottawa that the government shares the United States’ concerns about the border and is willing to provide additional technologies or personnel needed to improve security.
LeBlanc mentioned that the Canadian government had already agreed to incorporate drones and other surveillance methods at the border, in addition to providing more personnel to federal police and border authorities.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police faces difficulties in preventing migrants from crossing into the United States, said Sergeant Charles Poirier. As he explained, until they cross the border, they have not committed a crime.
“It is very difficult to stop this flow of migrants to the south, mainly because the legislative tools we have are oriented towards people who try to enter Canada illegally, and not so much towards those who leave Canada to enter the United States illegally.” Poirier told Reuters.
Although crossings at the northern border of the United States are significantly fewer than at the southern border, the number of migrants detained crossing unofficial points has increased considerably. Between fiscal years 2023 and 2024, apprehensions made by the US border patrol more than doubled, reaching 23,721 people.
Read: Bank of Canada says Trump’s proposed tariffs will hit both economies
Ford, who has urged Trudeau to abandon the trilateral trade deal between the United States, Canada and Mexico in favor of a bilateral pact with the United States, also noted that any tariff would hurt both countries.
‘Comparison between Canada and Mexico was insulting’
Trump’s comparison between Canada and Mexico when it comes to threats to the United States was “the most insulting thing I’ve ever heard,” he said.
In another early sign of tensions, the governor of Alberta, an oil-rich province, said Monday night that Trump had valid concerns related to illegal activities on their shared border.
Trump’s plan does not exempt crude oil from trade sanctions, two sources familiar with the proposal told Reuters on Tuesday.
Canada is the world’s fourth largest producer of oil and sixth largest producer of natural gas. The vast majority of its daily oil exports, 4 million barrels, go to the United States.
“We call on the federal government to work with the new administration to resolve these issues immediately, thereby avoiding unnecessary tariffs on Canadian exports to the United States,” Governor Danielle Smith commented in a social media post.
“The vast majority of Alberta’s energy exports to the United States are transported via secure pipelines, which do not contribute in any way to these illegal activities at the border,” added Smith, whose relations with Trudeau are strained.
Former Liberal Finance Minister John Manley called for calm, pointing out that Trump has not yet assumed power.
“Don’t be alarmed yet. “We know that Donald Trump is a bit of a showman,” he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “You have to feed his ego and allow him to have some wins.”
With information from Reuters
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