Trudeau and premiers meet to discuss response to Trump’s tariffs threat

OTTAWA — Canada’s premiers are set to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and members of his cabinet today to talk about U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s vow to impose steep tariffs.

Trump has promised to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican imports — one of several measures he says he’ll enact on day one of his presidency through an executive order. He assumes that office on Monday.

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Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc met Tuesday with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who currently chairs the premiers’ group, to talk about Canada’s response.

“I saw the plan for border security. It’s phenomenal. As I said to Minister LeBlanc, have (Public Safety Minister David McGuinty) get out there and start promoting it, because it’s a solid, solid plan,” Ford said.

Just one day earlier, Ford criticized the Trudeau government for not sharing details of the border plan.

LeBlanc said the finance department and Canada’s major banks have been working on modelling potential job losses from the tariffs. LeBlanc declined to share that information on Tuesday.

“We’re not going to speculate on what exactly are different scenarios. Next week, we think we’ll know the precise details of what these tariffs will mean to the Canadian economy and of course we’ll be ready to respond from a position of strength,” LeBlanc said.

Ford estimated that the tariffs could cost 500,000 jobs in Ontario alone.

Trump’s messaging on tariffs has shifted in recent days, putting greater focus on the U.S. “subsidizing” Canada through trade and suggesting it become the 51st state.

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said last week that retaliatory tariffs will be on the agenda for the meeting with the premiers.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith met with the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago resort over the weekend.

She attended as a guest of Canadian businessman and television personality Kevin O’Leary.

Smith urged Canada not to block oil and gas exports to the U.S. as part of the tariff response, warning it could trigger a “national unity crisis.”

When asked about the possibility of blocking energy exports on Tuesday, Ford and LeBlanc said they want to keep all options on the table.

“I think we need to be ready to deploy all of the measures necessary to defend the Canadian economy, but we’re not going to publicly speculate what is or what isn’t an option,” LeBlanc said.

LeBlanc has met with Trump and members of his administration twice in person since the American election — once with Trudeau and a second time with incoming U.S. cabinet members alongside Joly.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault was seen talking to Trump in December at the reopening of the restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Smith said she plans on attending Trump’s inauguration next week.

Drew Fagan of the Munk School of Global Affairs said that for Canada to deal successfully with the Trump administration, all leaders and officials need to show a united front.

“It does seem to be right now a bit of a free-for-all, and that’s challenging for us because the way we succeed in negotiations with the United States, as the much smaller party, is to also be the smarter party,” he said.

“And smarts comes from coordination and focus.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2025.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press