Provincial premiers meet in Ottawa to prepare response to Trump

The provincial premiers are meeting in Ottawa on Wednesday for one last time before Donald Trump takes office, whose tariffs could cause the country to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs.

• Also read: Legault’s discomfort with Trump

• Also read: Tax American orange juice. Why not apples?

American tariffs of up to 25% could decimate around 500,000 jobs in Ontario, a real economic catastrophe if the threats come true, Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday morning.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Mr. Ford, alongside federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, praised the “solid” $1.3 billion plan that Ottawa is concocting to strengthen border surveillance.

Mr. LeBlanc said his department looked at different scenarios regarding possible job losses, but he did not want to reveal their content. To respond to the Americans, “all options will be considered.”

“Next week we believe we will know the precise details of what these tariffs will mean for the Canadian economy and we will be prepared, of course, to respond from a position of strength […]“, he said.

For his part, François Legault assured that his government was “ready to face any eventuality”. Quebec could deploy nearly 300 police officers as reinforcements to monitor illegal border crossings.

Progressive rates

The Trump administration is considering a monthly increase in customs fees of between 2% and 5% to limit the surge in inflation and cushion the shock that an immediate rate of 25% could have.

According to the American magazine Fortunethis gradual approach would also aim to strengthen the position of the Americans during future negotiations. The plan is still in the preliminary stage and has not been officially presented.

In a sign of his seriousness, the president-elect indicated Tuesday that he would inaugurate a new agency solely dedicated to collecting money from tariffs: the External Revenue Service.

The news created a stir on the markets: the US dollar weakened at the end of the day on Monday.

Former PMs shocked

Donald Trump’s attitude towards Canada since his re-election “shocked” former Prime Minister Stephen Harper and provoked a vigorous exit from Jean Chrétien over the weekend.

“If you want a better deal or whatever, that’s fine, but that doesn’t sound like the statements of someone who is supposed to be a friend, a partner and an ally,” Mr. Harper said in an interview on a podcast.

Threats of tariffs complicate the work of the American central bank, according to Fortunebecause they are seen as a risk to economic growth and could fuel inflation if countries decide to retaliate.