Premier says Trump has ‘declared war’

TORONTO (AP):

Canada’s outgoing prime minister and the leader of the country’s oil rich province of Alberta are both confident Canada can avoid the 25 per cent tariffs President Donald Trump says he will impose on February 1.

Justin Trudeau and Danielle Smith will argue that Canada is the energy super power that has the oil and critical minerals that America needs to feed what Trump vows will be a booming US economy.

But Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, the manufacturing and automobile hub of Canada, said a trade war is 100 per cent coming.

Trump “declared an economic war on Canada,” Ford said in an interview with The Associated Press. “And we are going to use every tool in our tool box to defend our economy.”

Trudeau said Canada will retaliate if needed but noted Canada has been here before during the first Trump presidency when they successfully renegotiated the free trade deal.

Ford said as soon as Trump applies tariffs he will instruct Ontario’s liquor control board to pull all American-made alcohol from shelves.

“We are the largest purchaser of alcohol in the world. And I’m going to encourage all the premiers to do the exact same,” Ford said, adding there will be a dollar-for-dollar tariff retaliation on American goods entering Canada.

“We are going to target Republican held areas as well. They are going to feel the pain. Canadians are going to feel the pain, but Americans will feel the pain as well,” he said. “A message to the countries around the world: if he wants to use Canada as an example you are up next. He’s coming after you as well.”

Trump pledged in his inaugural address that tariffs would be coming in a speech in which he promised a golden era for America. He later said Canada and Mexico could be hit with the tariffs as soon as February 1, though he signed an executive order requesting a report coordinated by the Secretary of Commerce by April 1.

Trump said Tuesday that the 25 per cent tariffs that he intends to place on Canada and Mexico as soon as February 1 would have “nothing to do” with renegotiating the existing trade pact among the three countries. For him, the tariffs are all about stopping unauthorised migration and the flow of any illicit drugs.

The US president told reporters at the White House that, in his opinion, the amount of fentanyl coming through Canada and Mexico is “massive”.

US customs agents seized just 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border.

About 60 per cent of US crude oil imports are from Canada. Despite Trump’s claim that the US doesn’t need Canada, nearly a quarter of the oil America consumes per day comes from Canada. America’s northern neighbour also has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the US.

Nearly CND$3.6 billion (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. Canada is the top export destination for 36 US states.