Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks out against proposed U.S. tariffs during Windsor visit

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau forcefully stated his case against proposed U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods during a stop in Windsor, Ont., Thursday.  

Trudeau told reporters he will continue to make the case to Americans that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's proposed 25 per cent tariff will raise prices for American consumers and harm one of the strongest economic relationships in the world, at a time where the continent should be taking on the world.

"The world is in a complicated place right now," Trudeau said.

"We're seeing massively shifting geopolitics. … All the more reason for us to pull together as a North America, creating jobs, creating prosperity and competing successfully with the world."

However, Trudeau added, if Trump chooses to proceed with tariffs, Canada will respond in "measured ways but robust ways."

Trudeau made the remarks during a visit to Anchor Danly, an international tool and die maker whose customers, he said, are approximately 50 per cent Canadian-based and 50 per cent American-based.

'We're not the problem'

Canada's tool, die and mould sector has been singled out by experts as an example of Canada's unique contributions to the North American auto sector and of the integration involved in the sector, which would be impacted by tariffs.

"Many experts would suggest that our tool, die and mould sector is the best, or one of the best, in the world. …and it would be almost impossible to duplicate that elsewhere in less than a long time," Peter Frise, a professor of mechanical and automotive engineering at the University of Windsor, previously told CBC.

Canada's border is a source of strength, not challenges, for the U.S., Trudeau said.

Less than half a per cent of the fentanyl entering the U.S. crosses the Canadian border, he said, and fewer than half a per cent of migrants illegally entering the U.S. are doing so through Canada. 

"We're not the problem," he told reporters in French. 

But the president and CEO of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters said the U.S. is much more important to the Canadian economy than Canada is to the U.S. 

A long fight with the U.S. would be a problem for Canada, he said. 

"Almost 75 per cent of all our motor vehicle and parts are sold to the US," said Dennis Darby.

"About two-thirds of all machinery that Canada builds are sold to the US. Sixty per cent of all chemicals that we manufacture are sold to the US."

Any tariff that would raise the price on American goods could cause manufacturers to look at shifting production south of the border, he added.

Darby is urging a similar response to any new tariffs to the one the government took when faced with steel tariffs in 2018, he said.

"There were some tariff relief programs for companies that were affected," he said. "We even ... suggested in a letter to the governments ... things like we did during COVID: work sharing programs, tax relief.

"Because I think it's going to be very important in the days of high uncertainty — that governments and industry work together to keep people employed, to keep these industries solvent, while we negotiate our way out of it."

Speaking at the tool and die plant, the Prime Minister also said he had been buoyed in recent days by seeing Canadians come together with a pride "that usually only happens around Olympic hockey games" and by the willingness of Canada's premiers to put their differences aside and put Canada first.

He also criticized Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for her decision not to sign a joint statement of unity against Trump's tariffs. 

"The premiers have an opportunity to express the interests of their citizens, of their industry, of their area," Trudeau said.

"But every single premier other than Danielle Smith then chose to put Canada first and say, 'But we're all part of Team Canada because what happens to any part of us happens to all of us.'"

Canada's purchase of the Trans-Mountain pipeline expansion to get Alberta oil to new markets was an example of Canadians standing up for Albertans, he added.

Trudeau's appearance at Anchor Danly was one of several stops in the Windsor area Thursday.

Earlier in the day, he met with members of Unifor Local 444, which represents workers at the Stellantis Windsor Assembly Plant and other area parts manufacturers. He emphasized their role in the battle against the proposed tariffs. 

Trudeau meets with students, union members

"Your voices are going to be really important in the coming weeks as not only we stand up and speak in defence of Canada and Canadian jobs, but in defence of a relationship that has been incredibly profitable for workers on both sides of the border," Trudeau said.

The Prime Minister stressed the importance of building relationships with American workers but added that "[d]oesn't mean we are going to back down even the slightest from defending our sovereignty and our interests."

Trudeau kicked off his visit to Windsor-Essex Thursday with a stop at École secondaire catholique l'Essor, where he fielded questions in French and told students he recognizes the challenge of living in a part of the country with a smaller Francophone community.