Provincial and territorial leaders vary in what they believe is the best of course of action to renew the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement and de-escalate the trade war.<\/p>\n
CHARLOTTETOWN \u2014 Several premiers came out of a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday saying they backed an urgent effort by his government to work out a trade deal with the U.S.<\/a> amid threats of a dramatic escalation in tariffs on Canadian goods.<\/p>\n “We all want to see an intensity ramp-up,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told reporters in Charlottetown, where she was meeting with her counterparts for an annual gathering of provincial and territorial leaders.<\/p>\n “The only way we’re going to get to an agreement is if diplomacy prevails and if both sides put a lot of resources into it.”<\/p>\n Quebec Premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette agreed Ottawa needs to focus on renewing the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, a pact that has thus far shielded Canadians from a majority of Trump’s levies.<\/p>\n “We all share, in fact, the same objectives: intensified negotiations in order to avoid an escalation that would be very harmful,” Fr\u00e9chette said.<\/p>\n A virtual meeting between Carney and the premiers was hastily added to the agenda Tuesday after Trump signed orders to increase tariffs by 50 per cent<\/a> on a variety of goods ranging from hockey sticks to honey to cement.<\/p>\n A senior White House official said the tariffs, to be applied within 30 days from Monday and without exemptions, are in response to provincial bans on U.S. liquor, Canada’s supply-managed dairy system and quotas on certain U.S. vehicles.<\/p>\n The new tariffs will not apply to energy, potash, fish or other goods already facing separate sector-specific tariffs, the official said.<\/p>\n However, provincial and territorial leaders vary in what they believe is the best of course of action to renew the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement and de-escalate the trade war.<\/p>\n While Smith maintained her strict stance against leveraging Alberta’s oil resources, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt left open the door to using her province’s energy exports to the U.S. as a high-value chip in trade talks.<\/p>\n “We do sell a lot of energy products to New England. We put gas in their cars, we put jet fuel in their fighter jets and we heat and cool their homes,” Holt noted.<\/p>\n “And so we knew that we have those kinds of tools at our disposal should we need them.”<\/p>\n Ford calls for retaliation, Team Canada approach<\/p>\n Before the call with the prime minister, Ontario Premier Doug Ford called on Canada to hit the U.S. back with tit-for-tat tariffs if there\u2019s no resolution by Trump\u2019s deadline, warning there would be a $28-billion impact to Canada if the levies go ahead.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are an energy powerhouse and we can dismantle the U.S. if we wanted to, if we all work together,\u201d Ford told reporters early Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n \u201cNo matter if it\u2019s the electricity \u2026 the potash, the oil \u2014 we\u2019re their No. 1 customer in the world. They need to feel the pain rather than us constantly feeling the pain.\u201d<\/p>\n Ford also said he wants to see more support from the other provinces when it comes to standing up to Trump’s tariffs.<\/p>\n “It can’t always be Ontario, it has to be a Team Canada approach, and that’s my message to my premier friends: that we have to stay united.”<\/p>\n Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe urged Dominic LeBlanc, the minister in charge of U.S.-Canada trade, to “camp out” in Washington, D.C., until CUSMA is renewed.<\/p>\n He added Ottawa and Washington need to drop the rhetoric and get to negotiating.<\/p>\n Despite the different approaches, Northwest Territories Premier R.J. Simpson said his counterparts are working collaboratively towards the same goal.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can come together and have discussions about those ideas. Ever since I\u2019ve been at this table, I\u2019ve been amazed at the solidarity,\u201d Simpson said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are differences of opinions but every time we\u2019re in that room, we\u2019re all pulling in the same direction.\u201d<\/p>\n Eby rejects return of U.S. alcohol to B.C. shelves<\/p>\n Earlier Tuesday, British Columbia Premier David Eby said Trump’s new tariffs will harm his province’s economy but added “there is not a chance in hell” he will allow U.S. alcohol back in B.C. liquor stores.<\/p>\n Provinces removing American alcohol from store shelves was a countermeasure to existing U.S. tariffs and the White House has flagged it as a trade irritant. Saskatchewan and Alberta have returned American booze to store shelves.<\/p>\n P.E.I Premier Rob Lantz said this week’s Council of the Federation meeting hasn’t been derailed by Trump’s new threats as trade was already high on the agenda this week.<\/p>\n Trump’s levies on Canadian goods have continued to affect every Canadian province, including Ontario’s steel, fabrication in Alberta and aluminum production and forestry industries in British Columbia, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.<\/p>\n U.S. pressure on the economy has spurred an effort encouraged by Carney’s Liberal government and business advocates to tear down internal trade barriers to boost the domestic economy.<\/p>\n Deal signed on alcohol sales<\/p>\n