Justin Trudeau, premiers to convene tomorrow to discuss Donald Trump tariff threat

Trudeau told reporters before a regular cabinet meeting that he had a “good call” with Trump Monday night and laid out “facts” to him about the “intense and effective connections” that characterize the cross-border relationship.

Trump, who campaigned on a vow to levy a 10 per cent tariff on all global imports to the U.S., escalated that threat and said he would slap the same 25-per cent tariff on Canada and Mexico, saying “thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Tuesday that “if necessary” he would be willing to retaliate against any Trump tariffs, although he did not specify in what manner — whether he would use tit-for-tat tariffs or punish the U.S. in some other manner.

Later, when asked about cutting Mexico loose in future talks with the U.S., Poilievre suggested he would. “I only care about Canada. I want to put our country first,” he said, adding America is “responsible for over 60 per cent of our trade.”

“I will do what is necessary to preserve and protect that relationship above all others.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said she is talking regularly to people both in the current administration and in Trump’s orbit. “I really think that sometimes it’s better to do so in private settings,” she said.

Joly said Trump’s call for a tighter border is something that is ultimately in Canada’s interest as well.

“It is important that we bear in mind that the security of our border is something that is important for Canada and of course for the U.S.”

Trump’s threats led Ontario Premier Doug Ford to demand that Trudeau immediately call an emergency first ministers meeting on border security, to forestall what he said would be a “devastating” impact on jobs in this country, a fear echoed by Quebec Premier François Legault.

At Queen’s Park, Ford said it was “unfair” and “insulting” for Trump to compare Canada to Mexico.

“It’s like a family member stabbing you right in the heart,” a sombre Ford told reporters.

Asked if Canada should respond in kind if Trump slaps a 25 per cent tariff on goods and services going into the U.S., Ford said: “Hopefully we won’t come to that. But if it does, there is no choice. We have to retaliate.”

But Dennis Darby, head of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) said that new tariffs on cross-border trade would have a “devastating impact on manufacturers, workers and consumers in both Canada and the United States. This is truly a lose-lose proposition.”

“Canada’s exports to the U.S. are primarily materials and inputs used by American businesses to manufacture other products. Imposing tariffs wouldn’t just harm Canada’s economy — it would also hurt U.S. manufacturers by increasing their costs and disrupting the deeply integrated supply chains that make North American manufacturing globally competitive,” Darby said.

The CME is working with partners at the U.S. National Association of Manufacturers “to ensure the new administration and other decision-makers fully understand the consequences of this proposal,” he said.

Natural Resources Minister John Wilkinson underscored the same idea.

“Canada and the United States have had an integrated energy market for a long time. That’s not just oil and gas, that’s hydroelectricity that feeds New York and Boston. It’s the potash that feeds people across the United States, it’s uranium that powers nuclear facilities. So I think we always had a market that benefits both sides.”

After Trump issued his threat on X on Monday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith backed Trump’s claim.

In a statement on X, she said that “the incoming U.S. @realDonaldTrump administration has valid concerns related to illegal activities at our shared border.”

“We are calling on the federal government to work with the incoming administration to resolve these issues immediately, thereby avoiding any unnecessary tariffs on Canadian exports to the U.S.”

She, like Trudeau did in his conversation with Trump, underlined Alberta’s energy exports to the U.S., referencing on the one hand the secure supply to U.S. markets via underground pipelines, but also saying those oil and gas exports “do not in any way contribute to these illegal activities at the border.”

Reaction across Canada challenged Trudeau to act quickly.

The head of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Candace Laing, said Canada should take a tough stance at the outset, although it wasn’t clear if she meant tit-for-tat tariff threats.

“Being America’s ‘nice neighbour’ won’t get us anywhere in this situation. President-elect Trump’s intention to impose 25 per cent tariffs signals that the U.S.-Canada trade relationship is no longer about mutual benefit. To him, it’s about winners and losers — with Canada on the losing end,” she said in a news release.

“We’re facing a significant shift in the relationship between long-standing allies. Canada’s signature approach needs to evolve: we must be prepared to take a couple of punches if we’re going to stake out our position. It’s time to trade ‘sorry’ for ‘sorry, not sorry.’”

It’s unclear if Trump is staking out a tough initial negotiating position. The North American trade pact is up for review in 2026 and he has boasted since his re-election that he fixed it in his first term.

Trump, who takes office anew in January, wrote in a post on his Truth Social site and later X, formerly Twitter, Monday evening, that, “On Jan. 20, as one of my many first executive orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25 per cent tariff on ALL products coming into the United States.”

He said the new tariffs would remain in place “until such time as drugs, in particular fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country!”

“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”

On Tuesday morning, Poilievre teed off Trump’s latest threats to launch a now-familiar partisan attack at the Liberal government, listing his usual complaints about nine years of a Trudeau government, and to suggest he’d fight Trump’s tariff threats — by changing Canadian economic, border and immigration policies.

Calling the U.S. the greatest economic superpower in the world and Canada’s neighbour, Poilievre said Trump’s “unjustified threat” of a 25 per cent tariff on “our already weak and shrinking economy” came as a surprise to Trudeau and his deputy and finance minister Chrystia Freeland, because they are “weak” and were “not ready.”

In French, he said, “we need a plan, a plan that will put Canada first, a plan for the economy and security of Canada.”

Trudeau, he said, “should put his partisanship aside” and “in the spirit of Team Canada” Trudeau must agree to cancel increases to the carbon tax, cancel “all taxes on work and making stuff in Canada,” — though he did not specify what that means — and expedite approval of natural resource and energy development projects.

On border security, Poilievre said “we have problems to solve,” saying that Trudeau’s government mismanaged immigration, and lax security has allowed stolen auto exports and allowed “terrorists” to enter at the border.

Poilievre said Trudeau has no plan to deal with 4.9 million immigrants whose visas will soon expire — although that number clashes with numbers cited by a migrant advocacy group, which said there are 2.36 million temporary residents with expiring status in the next two years.

He urged Trudeau to cancel military budget spending cuts — that are part of an across-government spending cut plan, and “fully reverse his legalization of drugs” — presumably referring to the programs of safe injection and safe supply programs meant to tackle addictions, which Poilievre has vowed to end.

With files from Robert Benzie, Ryan Tumilty and Alex Ballingall