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Ottawa and its provinces said they will respond forcefully if the next US administration follows through on a promise to impose tariffs on goods imported from Canada, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Friday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ms. Freeland and 10 provincial premiers have held two phone calls in recent days to discuss what would be the best response if President-elect Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on Canadian imports.
" In the event that the United States were to impose unjustified tariffs on Canada, of course we would respond, and the Canadian response would undoubtedly be strong. I am confident that it would be effective ," Ms. Freeland told reporters.
President-elect Trump has said he will keep the tariffs in place until Canada stops drugs and immigrants crossing the border.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Canada was considering the possible use of export taxes on commodities including uranium, oil and potash.
A Canadian government source said that while all options for 'retaliation' were on the table, ministers and officials were not close to making any decisions.
Although Ms. Freeland said Ottawa and the provinces would have to present a united front, some provincial premiers expressed dismay at the proposed response.
Scott Moe, premier of the western province of Saskatchewan, said the export taxes "would be a total betrayal" on the part of the Trudeau government. Saskatchewan produces oil, uranium and potash, he noted.
" Export taxes on these goods would be a self-defeating response to US tariffs as they would only serve to increase the damage to the economy and jobs ," he wrote in a post on social media network X.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said her oil-producing province "would not support a cut in energy exports to the US, nor would it support a tariff war with its largest trading partner and closest ally," as she said, referring to the United States. /VOA
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