Faced with threats of American tariffs | Quebec wants to sell more to Canada

American customs tariffs or not, the other Canadian provinces present underexploited potential for Quebec exports, said Superminister Christine Fréchette, in a press scrum on Friday.

In the event of the possibility that possible tariffs of 25% could be imposed by President Trump on Canadian exports, the Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Christine Fréchette, began discussions this week with the Quebec business community to “take the pulse” of the situation.

“We want businesses to look elsewhere than in the United States, and that includes also looking in the rest of Canada,” declared the minister, in the press scrum. According to her, a greater margin for Quebec exports could be filled there, but she did not specify in which sectors of activity or in what ways this could come to fruition.

The superminister was accompanied by Bicha Ngo, president and CEO of Investissement Québec. The latter specified that two thirds of business support at Investissement Québec, as of Friday, is done in markets outside the United States.

The Minister’s Office recalled that to date, nearly three-quarters of exports from Quebec go to our neighbors to the South: agri-food, aerospace, forestry, as well as aluminum are the four industries most directly “at risk”. The Quebec aluminum industry also sends 96% of merchandise exports to the United States, which represents a value of $9.8 billion.

In total, around thirty companies – from these four industries – and Quebec business associations participated in the round tables led by the government and Investissement Québec. Around 100 other business leaders across all sectors were also surveyed on how they plan to respond to the changes.

While some have said they plan to absorb the costs associated with this measure, others plan to pass the bill on to their American customers in response, reported M^me Fréchette.

The total value of Quebec goods exported to the United States is estimated at 83.7 billion, according to the Ministry. The four industries that would be most affected by the imposition of new tariffs represent nearly 45% of this amount.

A possible response?

Plan A is to ensure that the tariff war is avoided, insisted Christine Fréchette.

“We expect the Canadian government to tighten up border management,” added the minister, who until last September was responsible for Immigration.

But the government has not yet decided on the strategy it would adopt, she indicated, in the event that Trump moves forward with his measure: “There are a lot of hypotheses,” explained the minister. We are evaluating the impacts of different strategies that we could implement,” she concluded.

On Wednesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford raised the possibility of Canada suspending exports of energy and critical minerals to the United States – an idea that did not meet with unanimous support in the country.