Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government is readying further retaliation measures if negotiations with the United States to end the recently doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum fail.
“We are in intensive negotiations with the Americans and in parallel preparing reprisals if those negotiations do not succeed,” he told the House of Commons during question period Wednesday afternoon.
The government is under mounting pressure to show strength after U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest economic wallop which is forecasted to devastate Canada’s steel and aluminum industries.
Carney called the the move to double levies on steel and aluminum imports — bringing them up to 50 per cent — “illogical” and “unjustified.”
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Speaking to reporters at Queen’s Park earlier in the day, Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he will “be all over” the federal government to “slap another 25 per cent on their steel.”
“We can’t sit back and let President Trump steamroll us,” said the outspoken premier. “Every single day that it goes by gives uncertainty through the sectors, it adds additional cost on the steel. So we need to react immediately.”
Carney said the government is focused on ongoing “intensive discussions” with the United States.
“We will take some time — not much, some time — because we are in intensive discussions right now with the Americans on the trading relationship,” Carney said ahead of a caucus meeting Wednesday morning.
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He called the latest round of tariffs “bad for American workers, bad for American industry and, of course, for Canadian industry as well.”
“I would note that the American action is global action. It’s not one targeted at Canada,” he said. “So we’ll take some time, but not more.”
Ford suggested to reporters that the two countries are close to a deal after Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc visited Washington earlier this week. But senior officials downplayed those comments.
Canada’s envoy to Washington, Ambassador Kirsten Hillman, said it’s “too soon to say we are close” to a deal.
“It was a good conversation but we have more work to do,” she said in a statement. “We will stand firm until we get the right deal for Canada.”
Carney responds to U.S. aluminum and steel tariffs doubling
Ford said Ontario is considering its own retaliation, suggesting “everything is on the table.”
Earlier this year, Ford imposed a 25 per cent surcharge on electricity the province sends to the 1.5 million homes in U.S. But he suspended the measures within a day, saying the “temperature needs to come down.”
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said she’s been on the phone with steel and aluminum sector CEOs and knows many Canadians are anxious for Ottawa’s next moves.
“We are looking at different scenarios right now and we will take a decision, but we need a bit more time right now. Not too long,” she said.
During a news conference on Parliament Hill Wednesday, Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, said 23,000 steel jobs and another 9,500 aluminum jobs will be impacted within days.
“We know within the next couple of days and weeks, job losses will start to accumulate,” she said.
“We have to be meeting force with force.”
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During the same presser, Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, endorsed targeted counter-tariffs, but urged against moves that could have unintended consequences for other Canadian industries.
“In this moment, it is understandable that we would want to show fight and I think we had that sense from Canadians with the onset of tariffs,” she said.
“We need to also show strength and show smarts in this moment.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Carney’s office said all funds collected from Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on over $90 billion, before remissions, of U.S. imports will go to supporting Canadian workers and businesses impacted by the U.S. tariffs.
Canadian steel and aluminum industries say doubling the tariffs will have a devastating impact. The industries are already dealing with job losses and a drop in shipments, as Canada is the top exporter of those metals to the U.S.
“The steel and aluminum industry is key to Canada’s prosperity, and we’re going to be there fighting,” Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne.
The Conservatives pushed to have an emergency debate in the House of Commons on Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs, but the request was denied.
Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia said the request doesn’t meet the bar “at this time.” According to the House’s rules, an emergency debate “must relate to a genuine emergency.”
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“The ‘elbows up’ prime minister promised Canadians he was the ‘man with a plan’ to stop U.S. tariffs on Canadian industry,” said Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman on social media.
“U.S. tariffs have only gotten worse since Carney took office.”
Interim NDP Leader Don Davies said he’s a “bit surprised” Carney needs more time.
“These tariffs have been foreshadowed for some time,” he said. “We need action.”
Carney and Trump will see each other in just over a week at the G7 meeting in Kananaskis, Alta.
