OTTAWA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will convene a first ministers’ meeting this week to discuss with premiers how to handle the imminent Trump Administration, including the latest threat of a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian products.
The PMO says that meeting will be held virtually Wednesday at 5 p.m., signaling the urgency Trudeau and premiers feel about Trump’s statements that landed as a bombshell late Monday.
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-percent tariff on Canada and Mexico, saying “thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before.”
It 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 Francois Legault.
At Queen’s Park on Tuesday, Premier Doug 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.”
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 US @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% 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 January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% 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!”
This is a developing story.
With files from Robert Benzie
