Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 18, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba LEASING FOR NEW AND USED VEHICLES SCAN THE QR CODE TO START SHOPPING OR CALL (204) 663-6185 918 Grosvenor Ave. • 204.975.4605 Tues- Fri 10-6, Sat 10-5 WINTER SALE FURTHER REDUCTIONS! YOUR PATH FORWARD Find guidance and support through the Alzheimer Society. 204-943-6622 (Winnipeg) 1-800-378-6699 (Manitoba) alzheimer.mb.ca SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 2025 A2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS VOL 154 NO 58 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2025 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. Published six days a week in print and always online at 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B6, PH: 204-697-7000 CEO / MIKE POWER Editor / PAUL SAMYN Associate Editor Enterprise / SCOTT GIBBONS Associate Editor News / STACEY THIDRICKSON Associate Editor Digital News / WENDY SAWATZKY Director Photo and Multimedia / MIKE APORIUS NEWSMEDIA COUNCIL The Winnipeg Free Press is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to determine acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please send them to: editorialconcerns@freepress.mb.ca. If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the website at www.mediacouncil.ca and fill out the form or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information. 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Call or email before 10 a.m. weekdays or 11 a.m. Saturday City: 204-697-7001 Outside Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 press 1 6:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.; 7 a.m. - noon Saturday; Closed Sunday TO SUBSCRIBE: 204-697-7001 Out of Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 fpcirc@freepress.mb.ca The Free Press receives support from the Local Journalism Initiative funded by the Government of Canada INSIDE Arts and Life D1 Books G1 Business B4 Celebrations D5 Classifieds E7 Comics I3-7 Community Voices A19 Destinations I1 Diversions G6-7, I8 Faith G5 Green Page G8 Homes H1 Horoscope D5 Miss Lonelyhearts D5 Obituaries C1 Opinion A8-9 Sports E1 Television D7 Weather D8 49.8 F1 COLUMNISTS: Dan Lett A6 Niigaan Sinclair B3 Martin Cash B4 Joel Schlesinger B7 Tory McNally B8 Jen Zoratti D1 Ben Sigurdson D2 Russell Wangersky F6 Alison Gillmor F8 Mike McIntyre/Ken Wiebe E2 Jeff Hamilton E3 Jerrad Peters E6 READER SERVICE ● GENERAL INQUIRIES 204-697-7000 Fallout of Trump’s threatened action would devastate both economies: ministers Canada prepares to hit U.S. with billions in tariffs W ASHINGTON — Ottawa is ready to retaliate if U.S. presi- dent-elect Donald Trump slaps Canada with devastating tariffs, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised Fri- day — and his ministers say Republic- ans in Washington don’t fully under- stand the impact of the duties on both countries’ economies. “We will not hesitate to act,” Trudeau said at a meeting of the newly formed Council on Canada-U.S. Relations in To- ronto. “We will respond and, I will say it again, everything is on the table.” The incoming president has prom- ised to apply 25 per cent across-the- board tariffs on imports from Canada when he returns to the White House on Monday. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is in Washington this week and met Thursday with Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, as well as Republicans Lindsey Graham and James Risch, chairman of the U.S. Sen- ate Foreign Relations Committee. She said tariffs would launch a “trade war” between Canada and the U.S. “If we need to retaliate, we will do so,” Joly told reporters Friday. “The Americans would be starting a trade war against us and this would be the biggest trade war between Canada and the U.S. in decades.” Canada has multiple options for re- taliatory tariffs ready to go depending on what Trump ultimately does, said two federal government sources with knowledge of the tariff response plan. They were not authorized to speak pub- licly about details of the plan. If Trump sets the tariffs at 25 per cent, Canada’s response would be to im- pose counter-tariffs worth roughly $37 billion, and possibly follow up with an- other $110 billion in tariffs. If the dut- ies are lower, Canada’s tariff response would be more modest. No decision will be made until Ottawa sees the wording of Trump’s executive order imposing the tariffs. Energy and Natural Resources Min- ister Jonathan Wilkinson, who was in Washington this week, said Thursday that Trump’s tariff plan isn’t even clear to Republican senators and congress- people. Wilkinson said he’s heard about three tariff options being considered: 25 per cent tariffs, 10 per cent tariffs and a lower duty that ratchets up over time. The premiers disagree about how Canada should respond if Trump fol- lows through on his threats. Most premiers presented a united front fol- lowing a meeting with Trudeau in Ot- tawa earlier this week. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith broke from the pack by refusing to con- sider levies on oil exports. Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, who confirmed her intention to run for the Liberal leadership on Fri- day, has suggested a dollar-for-dollar tariff response. Trudeau has said he supports the principle of a proportional dollar-for-dollar response. While Canada has been planning its tariff response for weeks, Republicans only recently returned to Capitol Hill, said Joly. Joly said she still hopes duties can be avoided by making the case that tariffs would damage both the Canadian and American economies. “When I talk about the tariffs them- selves and their impact, people in Wash- ington are surprised,” Joly said Friday. “And when I mention the impacts of a Trump tariff tax on Americans, they are not only surprised, they are very worried.” Goods worth $3.6 billion cross the border every day. A Canadian Chamber of Commerce analysis said 25 per cent tariffs could shrink Canada’s gross domestic product by 2.6 per cent and America’s by 1.6 per cent. It would also disrupt the automotive, agriculture and energy sectors, among others. “Americans are just waking up to this possibility,” Joly said. Bea Bruske, president of the Can- adian Labour Congress, told The Can- adian Press her organization is “very concerned” about the impact of tariffs on jobs. “We think that this is an all-hands-on- deck moment where government, busi- ness, labour needs to come together to navigate how we’re going to respond,” Bruske said, adding that workers’ voices need to be included in those con- versations. She said the sectors most vulnerable to tariffs include manufacturing, min- ing, the energy sector, agriculture and forestry. “These are the jobs that are really the backbone of our economy across the country and the different provinces and regions,” Bruske said, adding that job losses in those areas would have spinoff effects on other sectors like re- tail, education and health care. She called for a “strong social safety net” so that “if there are job disruptions … workers can continue to be able to function in the communities that they live in.” When asked about potential retalia- tion measures, Bruske said it’s too ear- ly to tell what they could look like. She said counter-tariffs could work but a trade war would hurt workers on both sides of the border. Bruske said the congress is working with the labour movement in the U.S. to identify opportunities for collaboration. “Workers are feeling more and more pressure being able to make ends meet and an additional challenge in terms of potential job losses is just one more thing for people to worry about,” she said. —The Canadian Press KELLY GERALDINE MALONE JUSTIN TANG / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly: biggest trade war in decades ;