Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s agreed to meet with his provincial and territorial counterparts after Donald Trump threatened to impose hefty tariffs on Canadian goods.
The U.S. president-elect said Monday night that on his first day back in the White House, he would impose a 25 per cent tax on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday morning, Trudeau said he plans to meet with Canada’s premiers “this week” to discuss how to approach the Canada-U.S. relationship.
“This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on, and that’s what we’ll do,” Trudeau said before heading into a meeting with his cabinet.
“One of the really important things is that we be all pulling together on this. The Team Canada approach is what works.”
The premiers had written to Trudeau on Monday prior to the latest tariff threat, asking for an urgent meeting to discuss Ottawa’s approach to the incoming administration.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all goods from Canada and Mexico until both countries stop what he called the ‘invasion’ of undocumented migrants and drugs crossing the U.S. border.
“As we look to welcome the incoming U.S. administration, it is important that we act now to work together and seize this opportunity to grow and strengthen our historic partnership with the U.S.,” the premiers’ letter reads.
Forecasters have been attempting to predict how a second Trump term will impact Canada’s economy. Various projections have pegged the potential damage to Canada at anywhere from less than a half-point of GDP to a devastating five per cent.
