Premier François Legault says while Quebec may have been spared worse tariffs this week, the province needs to keep its guard up and diversify its economy away from the U.S.
At an afternoon news conference Thursday held after a meeting between all of Canada’s premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney, Legault highlighted the need for Quebec to find other markets.
“The fact remains that whatever Donald Trump does in the next months and years, the top priority must be to diversify our economy, the economy of Quebec,” he said.
The White House said goods covered by the free-trade deal between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico were exempted from the new round of tariffs, but Trump said he is going ahead with previously announced 25 per cent tariffs on automobile imports starting Thursday.
Carney announced on Thursday Canada will match Trump’s 25 per cent auto tariffs with a levy on vehicles imported from the United States.
Legault says he doesn’t support dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs that he believes could hurt Canadians more than Americans, and says Trump “doesn’t need help” doing damage to the U.S. economy.
The Quebec premier also wants Canada to renegotiate its free-trade deal with the U.S. and Mexico as soon as the federal election campaign is over, to avoid piecemeal negotiations and remove uncertainty.
Legault offered the European Union as one example of a trading partner with whom Quebec businesses could turn to. He said Quebec’s values more closely align with European values than with the U.S.
Meanwhile, primary producers in Quebec’s aluminum industry are expecting they will be spared the worst impacts of tariffs, given the province accounts for 90 per cent of production in Canada and can pivot to other markets, primarily Asia.
‘No sense’ to Trump’s ramped up tariff threats on aluminum, Quebec industry advocate says
François Racine, chief executive officer of AluQuébec, said Trump’s plan to bolster production within the U.S. is misguided when it comes to aluminum.
“I think the president thinks that he can bring back the production capacity of aluminum that he had in the past and be more efficient,” Racine said.
“The reality is that they are in a deficit of about four million tonnes per year of aluminum, most of which comes to Canada.”
