PM will speak around 2 p.m. ET after Trump says he’ll go ahead with 25% tariffs
Liberal Leader Mark Carney has paused his campaign and is back in Ottawa on Thursday to deal with the fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed auto tariffs, which would wallop the industry in Canada.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump delivered a blow to the cross-border auto trade, vowing to bring in a new 25 per cent tariff on finished vehicles imported into the United States, starting next week.
Hundreds of thousands of Canadians jobs are connected to the auto sector — the largest manufacturing industry in Canada and second-largest source of exports to the U.S. after oil.
In a social media post Thursday, the president threatened to further punish Canada and the European Union with duties “far larger than currently planned” if they retaliate against his auto tariffs
We need to fully divest from the US. Entirely.
Carney addressed Canadians, saying, “We won’t back down. We will respond forcefully. Nothing is off the table to defend our workers and our country.”
“I don’t want to set unreasonable expectations,” he added, saying there’s no silver bullet or quick fix, and that Canadians are understandably anxious.
“I have every confidence in our country because I understand what President Trump does not: that we love Canada with every fibre of our being.”
There are tougher sounding headlines, but “any reaction is postponned to April 2” is bottom line.
Announcing an immediate pause on military procurement and other federal contracts would have been right. Its easy to unpause.
Even if one of his quotes is “military/security relationship is over”.
The response is too muted to go ballistic on April 2. Still no Chinese diplomacy.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump delivered a blow to the cross-border auto trade, vowing to bring in a new 25 per cent tariff on finished vehicles imported into the United States, starting next week.
I feel like we’re about to see a spike in unfinished vehicles that are missing windshield wipers, headlights and oil filters being sent to US factories.
You taking notes Australia and the UK?
I wonder if there’s a way for many of these auto factories to pivot towards a different product. For example, getting a license to produce parts for Leopard 2s or something. Some parts of the EU are already doing that, especially Germany.
The entire auto sector has been stagnating and parts of it has been shrinking lately, so the best way to save the jobs in the industry is for the factories to pivot to a different product within a similar industry, something the government can invest in that they themselves will know how much demand there will be, since basically all of Canada’s tanks and IFVs are so out of date and unmaintained that we have to replace them all in the next decade or two anyways.
Carney doesn’t rule out export tax on energy to U.S.
Asked whether the government would consider a retaliatory tax on oil and gas exported to the U.S., Carney said, “We have many options. And we will use them judiciously.”
“It’s a negotiation. You act when you act. You don’t pre-commit.”
Pressed on how Canada will actually respond next week if U.S. tariffs come into effect, the prime minister wouldn’t give details.
“This is a negotiation,” he said, adding that the government will know “a lot more” in a week. “In a negotiation, it doesn’t make sense to tip your hand.”
Noting that the threatened tariffs apply to all countries, not just Canada and Mexico, Carney said, “We have the best deal of a bad deal, is the way I would put it.”
More reciprocal tariffs are coming on April 2, including tariffs on sectors like forestry, lumber, pharmaceuticals and semi-conductors.
“We have a number of measures that we can take in response to those initiatives.”
Carney says that Trump reached out to him last night to schedule a call. If it takes place, it will be the first between the two heads of state. But Carney didn’t say when the call would happen.
Carney is asked when a phone call with Trump will happen. He says he and the president will speak “in the next day or two.”
Nukes. Feel free to kill me with them as well.
