Carney says he'll speak to Trump soon, promises to fight back on auto tariffs
Ontario premier hoping for an exemption for vehicles with significant U.S. content
Calling the U.S. an unreliable partner, Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed Canada will retaliate if President Donald Trump moves ahead with his proposed auto tariffs next week and promised "economic autonomy" going forward.
"I reject any attempts to weaken Canada," Carney said during a news conference on Parliament Hill Thursday.
"The old relationship we had with the U.S. based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military co-operation is over."
Speaking from the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order to bring in a new 25 per cent tariff on finished vehicles imported into the United States next week.
Hundreds of thousands of Canadian jobs are connected to the auto sector — the largest manufacturing industry in Canada and second-largest source of exports to the U.S. after oil.
In a social media post Thursday, the president threatened to further punish Canada and the European Union with duties "far larger than currently planned" if they retaliate against his auto tariff
Carney did not detail what Canada's counter could look like, saying he won't tip his hand in the negotiations.
"You act when you act. You don't pre-commit," he said.
Carney, who was sworn in as prime minister nine days before calling an election, said Trump's team reached out to set up a call likely in the next day or two. It will be the first conversation between the two men as leaders of the once close countries.
Carney has previously said he is open to a conversation if the president, who repeatedly taunts that Canada should become the 51st state, respects Canada's sovereignty.
Speaking in French he said that's not much to ask for, but "apparently it's a lot for him."
While Carney struck a serious tone speaking to reporters, elsewhere there was optimism amid the most serious Canada-U.S. trade war in generations.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters in Toronto that he was hoping for an exemption for cars with significant U.S. content, based on his conversations with Trump's team.
One official privy to recent Canada-U.S. discussions said the sides have been talking for days about a potential reprieve.
Which is why, the official said, Canadian officials were so crestfallen Wednesday when they heard Trump make his announcement in the Oval Office.
Then they saw the fine print of the executive order: It said cars built under the rules of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade pact could have their U.S. content exempted from tariffs.
'The fat lady hasn't sung': Canadian official
This means, for example, that a car assembled in Canada could, in theory, see its 25 per cent tariff reduced to 12.5 per cent, if half the car's parts are American.
That would be a painful, but not necessarily fatal, blow to auto production in Canada, especially with a weak loonie.
Talks are ongoing and Canadian officials are hoping to broaden that exemption to other areas, including on critical minerals
"The fat lady hasn't sung until April 2," said the official. They said recent discussions have been positive. "We hope we can take it further."
The official was not authorized to speak on the record given the nature of the talks.
The conversations with Trump's team have featured Ford, International Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Canada's U.S. ambassador, Kirsten Hillman, and Ontario's Washington representative, David Paterson.
LeBlanc has spoken to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick twice since Trump's announcement, according to Radio-Canada sources. Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters he's also been on the horn with Lutnick and called it a "productive conversation."
It's unclear whether they'll reach an amiable conclusion. These talks could go either way, as Trump and his team have, in the past, insisted on a painfully strict method for determining the origin of car parts.
Carney pitches 'all-in-Canada' networks
Carney said he'll convene with the premiers Friday and plans to speak with the council on Canada-U.S. relations and union leaders as Canada readies its response.
The Liberal leader paused his campaign to come back to Ottawa Thursday to deal with the fallout from Trump's latest economic blow, which would wallop the auto industry in Canada.
Carney, who will return to campaigning Thursday night, said the next Canadian government will have a fundamentally different relationship with the United States.
"Coming to terms with this sobering reality is the first step in taking necessary actions to defend our nation," he said.
Before Trump's announcement Wednesday, Carney had promised a $2-billion package to protect Canada's auto industry and create an "all-in-Canada" network for auto manufacturing components if elected April 28. He announced the plan while in Windsor, Ont., the heart of Canada's auto industry.
In his Thursday speech, Carney promised to create similar strategies in other key Canadian sectors, arguing it will create "strategic economic autonomy here in Canada."
"We can control our destiny," he said.
Ford's campaign manager compares Poilievre to Trump
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who is in the Vancouver area for Day 5 of the campaign, said his message to Trump is to "knock it off" and to "stop attacking America's friends."
"Start trading so that we can once again become richer, stronger and more secure on both sides of the border," he said during a campaign stop at Apollo Sheet Metal, in Coquitlam, B.C.
Poilievre was asked about recent comments from Kory Teneycke, Ford's campaign manager, who raised serious concerns at the direction of the Conservative leader's campaign.
In an Empire Club of Canada panel Wednesday night in Toronto, Teneycke, who helped usher Ford to a third victory last month, said the federal party needs to pivot to address Canadians' concerns with the U.S. or "they are going to get obliterated."
"He looks too much like Trump. He sounds too much like Trump. He uses the lexicon of Trump," Teneycke said.
The story was first reported by the Toronto Star.
"I'm the only one who will stand up to the president," Poilievre said in response.
Poilievre said the president "would love nothing more than to keep the Liberals in power so that he can keep abusing our economy."
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called Trump's latest threats a "full-frontal attack on autoworkers." Speaking in Windsor, Singh promised that if elected, the NDP would make sure company owners who took public money to build up Canada's auto sector don't "strip it for parts."
"Not a single piece of equipment should be taken out of our companies here in this country," he said. "Canadians invested in that equipment."
It's not clear how he would achieve that, but Singh said the NDP would "use every legal tool available."
In another sign of how big a role Trump is playing in this election, Singh shifted his road plan to be in the southern Ontario city Thursday. He meet with Unifor leaders in the auto industry and attended a shift change at a Stellantis plant. The change in schedule — the NDP leader was supposed to be in London, Ont. — came in response to Trump's tariff announcement.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet called for Parliament to return the same week of the election and for all parties to support a wage subsidy to enable businesses to keep their workers employed throughout the crisis.
"Every week, Donald Trump adds to his list of reprehensible economic attacks that will hit Quebec on April 2. Let's not wait any longer to reassure our businesses and workers," he said in a statement Thursday.
- This Sunday, Cross Country Checkup is asking: What impact is the trade war having on your job security? How does that affect your vote? Leave your comment here and we may read it or call you back for our show on March 30.
Earlier this month, and before the election call, the government announced a more than $6-billion aid package for businesses impacted by the trade war.
It also relaxed the rules around a program that allows employees to receive partial EI benefits while working reduced hours. The government said that will increase access to the program and lengthen the time that those benefits are typically available.
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With files from Alex Panetta