Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that President Donald Trump’s repeated remarks about Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state is a “non-starter” as he vowed to respond to incoming tariffs.
As Trump’s tariff threat looms, Canadian premiers, who are in Washington, D.C., are set to meet with senior advisors to the U.S. president at the White House Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking to reporters earlier in Brussels on Wednesday, Trudeau said Canada does not want to be in a trade dispute with the U.S., but if Trump follows through on his threats, “we will be equally unequivocal in our response.”
“Canada will respond as appropriate in a calibrated but extremely strong way, regardless of what the U.S. moves forward with,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau is visiting the Belgian capital to strengthen Canada’s relations with its European allies as tariff tensions with the United States continue.
On Monday, Trump said he would impose 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports coming to the United States, including from Canada, on March 12.
The White House confirmed to Motorcycle accident toronto today the 25 per cent metal tariffs would stack on top of the broad-based 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods, which Trump paused for 30 days.
That means the effective tariff for Canadian steel and aluminum will add up to 50 per cent.
In addition, Trump on Monday also threatened a tariff of between 50 and 100 per cent on Canadian vehicles.
In response to Trump’s executive order on Feb. 1 for the original vow of 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods, Canada released its own list of planned counter-tariffs.
Trudeau reiterated that tariffs would hurt both Americans and Canadians. He said the metal tariffs will result in job losses in the U.S. like the last time when Trump imposed them in 2018.
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He added Canada will continue to engage at all levels, “doing everything we can,” to prevent a trade dispute.
Amid the tariff tensions, Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of Canada becoming a 51st state.
Trudeau was heard saying last week in a hot mic moment in Toronto that Trump’s plans to annex Canada were a “real thing.”
“Let’s be very clear, conversations around the 51st state are a non-starter,” he said on Wednesday.
“It’s never going to happen, but we have to take seriously what the president is saying and fold that into our thinking as we continue to stand up for Canada.”
Trudeau said the way Canadians have responded over the past few weeks by changing their vacation plans, looking at ways to “Buy Canadian” and support local businesses, has been “inspiring.”
“This is a response of Canadians who are saying, ‘yeah, this is going to be tough, but we’re going to double down on Canadian pride and standing up for each other’”
Premiers make diplomatic push in D.C.
As part of a “Team Canada” approach, all 13 of Canada’s premiers were in Washington, D.C., Wednesday amid a diplomatic push to highlight Canada’s trading ties with the U.S.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who is running for re-election and has faced criticism for travelling to D.C. during the provincial campaign, said the premiers have met U.S. lawmakers – Democrats and Republicans – and business leaders to voice their concerns about the impact of tariffs on both sides of the border.
“We have to make sure it gets communicated up to President Trump,” Ford said, speaking to reporters om Wednesday.
“We just want to move forward. We’d like zero tariffs. That’s what we’d like.”
Quebec Premier Francois Legault said retaliatory tariffs from Canada should only be imposed if the U.S. follows through on it threats.
“We must not put any retaliation measures before, but we have to prepare ourselves,” he said.
“We already announced a list of counter-tariffs. I think we should consider also putting exportation tariffs on products like aluminum where they really need us.
“But I think the first choice is to have no tariffs, to have a general agreement as soon as possible.”
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc was also in D.C., where he met Wednesday with Howard Lutnick, Trump’s pick for U.S. commerce secretary.
LeBlanc said he had a “detailed conversation” about steel and aluminum trade between Canada and the U.S.
“They were very clear that Canada very much has their attention and they want to work with us to structure an economic deal that’s in the interest of both countries,” he told reporters after the meeting.
The across-the-board 25 per cent tariffs that Trump had pledged were put on hold last week after new border security commitments were made by Canada.
LeBlanc said he is “reassured” about the progress made on national security issues and the fight against the flow of fentanyl on the border, “but the work isn’t done.”
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