Donald Trump’s latest round of tariffs is only a few days old, but the havoc they’re already exerting on the global economy points to upcoming “pressure” on Canada’s employment levels, Liberal Leader Mark Carney is warning.
Wednesday’s announcement of new tariffs on imports into the United States from dozens of countries — along with starting the 25 per cent levy on “all foreign-made” vehicles — brought “greater certainty,” Carney said Saturday, about both the U.S. president’s ambitions for tariffs and the repercussions for Canada.
“We can expect pressure on employment in this economy,” he said during a campaign stop in Oakville, Ont., a community vulnerable to the new auto tariffs as Ford Motor Co. is one of the area’s largest employers.
Carney said the government’s recent changes to employment insurance eligibility, announced before the election, will provide some support.
Those measures include waiving the one-week waiting period for workers who lose their jobs because of the tariffs.
As well, Carney repeated his pledge that a re-elected Liberal government would respond to the tariffs by building a stronger economy less connected to the United States. But he also said those actions wouldn’t entirely cushion the financial blow.
“There are some tough days ahead. I’m not going to sugarcoat it,” he said.
“We’ve seen the first signs of that in the financial markets, dramatic moves in the financial markets, which is telling Americans, Americans that are listening, that there are future job cuts, higher inflation and likely an American recession ahead.”
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‘Tough days ahead,’ Carney says, hinting at ‘likely’ U.S. recession
Carney said the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union serves as a cautionary tale.
“It took some time for the impacts of Brexit to filter through to the U.K. economy, but I have seen this movie before,” Carney said, referring to his work managing that country’s economic response to Brexit as head of the Bank of England.
“I know exactly what is going to happen … the Americans are going to get weaker.”
Other party leaders didn’t specifically discuss the impact of a potential recession on Saturday, but instead continued to argue they’re best suited to protect Canada’s interests.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre recalled a recent Fox News interview in which Trump said he’d “rather deal with a liberal than a conservative” in the prime minister’s office and that Poilievre is “stupidly, no friend of mine.”
Poilievre has spun those remarks as a sign the president is backing the Liberals.
“I think a lot of people have to ask themselves: why does Donald Trump want the Liberals in power for a fourth term?” he told reporters Saturday in Osoyoos, B.C.
“The answer is clear: he wants Canada to be weak,” Poilievre said.
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If elected, he’s vowed to make Canada’s economy more independent, as Conservatives would fast-track the building of pipelines, natural gas plants and other natural resource projects.
Meanwhile, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told a news conference in St. John’s that he’s inspired by Canadians banding together in response to the U.S. tariffs and that voters “can count on New Democrats to continue that fight.”
“Cutting things we need is not the way forward,” Singh said, a dig at his Liberal and Conservative opponents who’ve promised to dial back spending if elected.
“The way we go forward is by lifting each other up, strengthening each other.”
The Bloc Québécois didn’t comment on the recession either, but leader Yves-François Blanchet said his Saturday election promise to make it harder for foreign companies to buy Quebec businesses demonstrates his commitment to keeping jobs in Quebec.
