Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the countryB次元官网网址檚 premiers will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the threat of steep new U.S. tariffs.
The meeting will be held virtually at 5 p.m., the Prime MinisterB次元官网网址檚 Office said.
On Monday night, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose a 25 per cent import tariff on goods coming from Canada and Mexico the day he takes office in January.
Trump made the comments on Truth Social, saying the tariffs would remain in effect until Canada and Mexico stop illegal border crossings and prevent drugs like fentanyl from entering the U.S.
Trudeau said he had a good call with Trump Monday evening.
B次元官网网址淲e obviously talked about laying out the facts, talking about how the intense and effective connections between our two countries flow back and forth. We talked about some of the challenges that we can work on together,B次元官网网址 Trudeau said on his way into the weekly cabinet meeting Tuesday morning.
B次元官网网址淚t was a good call. This is something we can do, laying out the facts in constructive ways. This is a relationship we know takes a certain amount of working on and thatB次元官网网址檚 what weB次元官网网址檒l do.B次元官网网址
Before TrumpB次元官网网址檚 post on Monday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford had asked for an urgent meeting between the premiers and Trudeau to prepare for the new administration.
That request took on new urgency following TrumpB次元官网网址檚 post.
Trudeau spoke by phone on Monday with Ford, who chairs the Council of the Federation, and other premiers including Quebec Premier Fran莽ois Legault.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Ford called the tariff threats serious and unfounded.
But if Trump follows through on the threat, Canada would have no choice but to retaliate, Ford said.
B次元官网网址淚 found his comments unfair. I found them insulting. ItB次元官网网址檚 like a family member stabbing you right in the heart,B次元官网网址 he said in Toronto.
B次元官网网址淭o compare us to Mexico is the most insulting thing IB次元官网网址檝e ever heard from our friends and closest allies, the United States of America.B次元官网网址
Trudeau needs to do better on border security, and give more resources to the Canada Border Services Agency to secure the borders and address the flow of drugs, Ford said.
B次元官网网址淥ne ounce of any illegal drug is one ounce too many going back and forth across the border,B次元官网网址 he said.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller suggested Tuesday the government is looking at what additional resources are needed at the border.
The Trudeau government has been preparing for the possibility of another Trump presidency for nearly a year, reigniting their previous effort.
B次元官网网址淥ne of the really important things is that we be all pulling together on this. The Team Canada approach is what works,B次元官网网址 Trudeau said.
Cabinet ministers and provincial officials have been dispatched south of the border to meet with people around Trump who could influence U.S. policy.
That included governors, business leaders, unions and members of Congress.
The week Trump was re-elected, Trudeau also restored the Canada-U. S. relations cabinet committee that had been dormant since Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
That committee has met several times already and was in the midst of a meeting Monday night when Trump posted his tariff threat on Truth Social.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement Monday night that Canada places B次元官网网址渢he highest priority on border security and the integrity of our shared border.B次元官网网址
She also stressed that cross-border trade between the two countries is significant, noting in particular that 60 per cent of U.S. crude oil imports came from Canada last year.
A 25 per cent tariff on those imports is expected to immediately jack up gas prices for American consumers.