(Saint-Sauveur) Prime Minister François Legault opens his game a little: if Donald Trump imposes customs tariffs of 25% on Canadian products, he suggests restricting Americans’ access to the country’s public calls for tenders as a substitute. of retaliation.
Posted at 2:39 p.m.
He made this proposal during the virtual meeting of the premiers of the provinces and territories with Justin Trudeau on Wednesday. He announced it publicly a few moments later at a press conference, at the end of his caucus meeting in Saint-Sauveur.
In the event of tariffs of 25%, Canada must, according to him, adopt the equivalent of Buy America Act a you Buy American Act under which the United States can require up to 70% American content in its tenders.
“We don’t have the equivalent. If Mr. Trump decides not to respect the free trade agreement, I think that is something that should be looked at. That is to say that, in our calls for tenders as a government, we deprive the Americans of the possibility of submitting offers with significant American content. So in the same way that we cannot submit an offer on an American contract with 70% Quebec content, I do not see why, in the context we are experiencing, if there are significant prices, to say that we would not demand the opposite of the United States,” he maintained.
If Canada decided to use energy exports such as oil and hydroelectricity as retaliation, François Legault asked that the affected province give its consent – a sensitive issue for his Alberta counterpart Danielle Smith.
-“I think it is important that, if we ask for a special contribution from a province, that the province agrees,” he said. […] If ever something was done on the hydroelectricity side, it would have to be done with the consent of Quebec. » Did he agree to cut electricity exports as a response? “I did not give my consent. I said I was open to looking at that,” he replied.
He leaves the door open. “There are a lot of things in electricity. There are firm contracts with Massachusetts and New York. Then we continually sell the electricity on the market called the spot market, at the spot market price. If we are attacked by the United States which is hurting our economy, can we also take retaliatory measures? I think we shouldn’t be naive there,” he clarified.
Among other options mentioned, François Legault touched on the idea of calling on “snowbirds” to no longer go to Florida. These Quebecers could be “shocked” by Mr. Trump’s tariffs – and could therefore question their habits, he suggested. “For the moment, there are no tariffs in place, but there are plenty of retaliation against Mr. Trump and the United States. Because among other things, there are a lot of Quebecers who spend their money in Florida. So I don’t want to rule anything out,” he said.
Read “Properties for sale among “snowbirds”: “It’s really total panic!” »
François Legault warned that “things will be turbulent in the coming months and years”, that “there is a risk of recession”. “It’s time to stand together,” he added, reiterating his call to “buy Quebecois.” He recalled that his government is preparing an aid plan for businesses and citizens, while considering increasing investments in infrastructure to stimulate the economy.
