Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who is a high-profile Democrat, spoke alongside Ontario Premier Doug Ford at a joint press conference in Quebec City with Quebec Premier François Legault on Monday.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Ontario Premier Doug Ford say they don’t want Donald Trump to bully Prime Minister Mark Carney during a White House meeting on Tuesday and urged the U.S. President to strike a trade deal with Canada that benefits both countries.
Mr. Carney is returning to Washington to meet with Mr. Trump for a second time on Tuesday, although Canadian officials are cautioning not to expect any breakthroughs.
Mr. Shapiro, who is a high-profile Democrat, spoke alongside Mr. Ford at a joint news conference in Quebec City on Monday after a meeting between Great Lakes governors and other U.S. officials and the premiers of Ontario and Quebec.
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Mr. Shapiro, who could be in the running to become a 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, said he’s “very concerned” about the Trump administration’s policies and that “dangerous” tariffs have caused costs to skyrocket in his state, including for farmers, small businesses and manufacturers.
He said he respects Canada’s sovereignty and it is against the United States’ long-term interest to fight with Canada.
“I hope the President of the United States has re-evaluated his tough guy approach to Canada,” Mr. Shapiro said on Monday.
“Instead of coming in and trying to bully the Prime Minister, actually sit down and work to hammer out a deal that lifts everyone up. This is not a zero-sum game. I don’t believe that if a Canadian does well, a Pennsylvanian has to be worse off.”
Pennsylvania has a balanced trade policy with Canada of roughly US$14-billion in imports and exports, with more than 10,000 people in his state working for Canadian-based companies, Mr. Shapiro said.
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Mr. Ford, meanwhile, said dealing with the U.S. President is unpredictable, but he hopes Canada can achieve certainty with a fair trade deal for both sides of the border.
“I don’t want the Prime Minister in there getting bullied,” the Premier said.
“Hopefully we’ll come out with positive results. And I’m confident that the Prime Minister is going to go in there and do a great job. He’s a smart, smart businessperson. So let’s see what happens.”
Mr. Ford also criticized the President for abandoning a constructive relationship with Canada in favour of other countries. “It seems like he’s given more love to China and Russia than he is his closet ally in the entire world,” the Premier said.
He added that Canada has critical minerals that the U.S. needs, and that it would be beneficial for both countries to see some tariff relief, including on steel.
The Ontario Premier also repeated his threat to pull Crown Royal whiskey from the shelves of the LCBO, after Diageo – one of the world’s largest alcohol producers – said it would be closing a bottling plant in Southwestern Ontario next year. Mr. Ford also mused Monday about possibly taking down other alcohol products owned by U.K.-based Diageo, such as Smirnoff vodka.
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Since returning to the White House earlier this year, Mr. Trump has hit Canada with a string of tariffs: 50 per cent on steel and aluminum, 25 per cent on autos – with a carve-out for U.S. parts – and 35 per cent on any goods traded outside the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, with the exception of oil, gas and potash, which are subject to 10-per-cent tariffs.
On Sept. 30, Mr. Trump imposed a new 10-per-cent tariff on Canadian softwood lumber shipments, raising the total levy on softwood to more than 45 per cent.
Mr. Trump on Monday said he and Mr. Carney would discuss tariffs, which the U.S. President claimed were causing companies to leave Canada for the U.S.
“Well, I guess he’s going to ask about tariffs, because a lot of companies from Canada are moving into the United States, you know, everybody’s moving back,” he told reporters in the Oval Office when asked what would be on the agenda for his meeting with the Prime Minister. “They’re losing a lot of companies in Canada.”
Mr. Trump did not specify which companies he was referring to, but insisted these were companies that “left here 20 years ago” because “presidents that sat here right at this desk weren’t doing their job.”
The President said his tariffs have been “effective.”
When asked if he would be open to changing his position on tariffs in his talks with Mr. Carney, Mr. Trump replied by talking up the amount of money tariffs have raised for the U.S. treasury.
“Everybody has said I’m right. They find billions of dollars that they didn’t even know they had. Recently, they said they found billions of dollars and they couldn’t understand it. I said ‘check the tariffs shelf,’ and they come in the next hour and they say ‘sir, you’re right, it’s from the tariffs,’” Mr. Trump said.
The tariffs are paid by importers bringing Canadian and other foreign products into the U.S, with the cost typically passed on to American consumers.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also characterized Mr. Carney’s visit as a “working meeting” and said trade would be on the agenda.
“I’m sure trade will be a topic of discussion tomorrow and all of the other issues that are facing both Canada and the United States. I know that the President looks forward to having that discussion with Carney in the Oval Office,” she said at a Monday press briefing.
Quebec Premier François Legault said on Monday that he did not want to set expectations for the Carney-Trump meeting too high, but that certainty is needed.
“What will happen next week? What will happen with the renegotiation of the USMCA next year?” Mr. Legault said.
“The most important thing is to have a long-term forecast about the market, and right now it’s total uncertainty. So, we can see that private investments are really on pause everywhere in Canada.”
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, also a Democrat, added that the uncertainty in Washington “is a problem, and it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Meanwhile, Official Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre challenged Mr. Carney to bring home results from his meeting with Mr. Trump.
In an open letter to Mr. Carney released Monday, Mr. Poilievre remarked that former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper struck a truce in the long-running Canada-U.S. softwood lumber dispute within 80 days of taking office.
“If you only return with excuses, broken promises and photo ops, you will have failed our workers, our businesses and our country,” the Conservative leader wrote.
“Get the tariffs off Canadian softwood lumber,” he continued, noting that softwood levies have “more than doubled since you took office. Time for the promised win for suffering lumber workers, mills and towns.”
Mr. Poilievre urged Mr. Carney to persuade Mr. Trump to remove U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper and autos.
“Time for your promised win to reverse the damage.”