Premier David Eby promised B.C. will never be "so exposed to the whims of one person in the White House." 

Eby made that statement Monday (Feb. 3) in North Vancouver mere hours after learning the United States will delay imposing 25 per cent tariffs on Mexico while thus far making no similar concession to Canada.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talked this morning with U.S. President Donald Trump following Trump's announced plans for a 10 per cent tariff, plus tariffs of 25 per cent on all other Canadian goods starting Tuesday, Feb. 4. 

While Trump and Trudeau are scheduled to talk again Monday, reports suggest discussions are not going in Canada's favour, with Eby arguing  Canada's relationship with the United States has changed B次元官网网址渁lmost overnightB次元官网网址�.

Eby said he welcomed discussions between Trudeau and Trump.

"There is lots that we can work on together and I'm fully supportive of the conversation the Prime Minister has gotten with the President to try to resolve this unfortunate dispute." 

But Eby also questioned whether Canada's relationship with the United States could return to where it was prior to the tariff threat, saying the U.S. appears bent toward fundamentally re-organizing its trading relationship to the detriment of its people and the benefit of its geo-political rivals. 

"Let's be honest with our ourselves, the deal that Mexico's got is a one-month reprieve," Eby said.

He predicted that B.C. will face the continued prospect of tariffs during the next four years and vowed to strengthen the domestic economy. Eby's appearance comes after he denounced the tariffs Saturday, calling them a "complete betrayal of the historic bond between our countries and a declaration of economic war against a trusted ally." 

Eby added that B.C. won't back down or be bullied into becoming another state. 

"Our province is unified and resolute," he said. "We'll never stop standing up for B.C. and Canada."

He also used the occasion to announce various counter-measures. 

Eby directed the BC Liquor Distribution Branch to immediately stop buying American liquor from 'red states' and remove the top-selling 'red-state' brands from the shelves of public liquor stores. He also directed government and Crown corporations to buy Canadian goods and services first.

He also announced that government would assess private-sector projects worth $20 billion with the goal of getting them approved as quickly as possible and issuing their permits faster without giving any additional details about timelines. But he added that accelerating these projects would involve legislation.

Eby followed these announcements with an appearance on Fox B次元官网网址 in making the case against U.S. tariffs to a pro-Trump audience. 

The Conservative Party of B.C. Sunday released what it called its Tariff Response Plan "designed to strengthen" the provincial economy, "secure" industries and "counteract" the "harmful effects" of the tariffs. 

It calls for a Canada-wide free trade agreement to eliminate inter-provincial trade barriers; the re-opening of provincial trade offices in foreign countries; the suspension of "excessive environmental and development regulations" blamed for slowing down job-creating projects; the fast-tracking of LNG and mining projects; and three-month spending review among other measures. 

The document is silent about whether the party supports or opposes retaliatory measures which B.C. and Canada have announced since Saturday and blames  Eby's "kneejerk approach to President Trump" for having created a "trade war that B.C. cannot win" without clarifying the exact nature of this "kneejerk approach.

More to come...