Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 22, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba Thanks to your generosity - and amid ongoing national decline in charitable giving - Manitoba remains Canada’s most generous province. Congratulations! MANITOBA IS CANADA'S MOST GENEROUS PROVINCE! Scan for local stories of generosity! wpgfdn.org There is more to MHC than meets the eye – and you help to make this possible! Make your donation now at misericordiafoundation.com or by calling 204.788.8458 MISERICORDIA HOSPITAL W ASHINGTON — Canadian offi- cials are adopting a different tone after President Donald Trump ordered a study of the United States’ trade relationship with Canada, pushing the threat of devastating tar- iffs down the road — temporarily. “We need to move from a defensive position to offensive in the sense that we have a lot of good things to put on the table in that discussion,” Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said at the cabinet retreat in Montebello, Que., on Tuesday. Trump signed the America First Trade Policy after his return to the Oval Office Monday evening, providing Ot- tawa with some insights into his tariff agenda after months of political anxiety. The memorandum orders multiple federal agencies to study trade policies and trade deficits. It directs the secre- tary of commerce and the secretary of homeland security to assess migration and fentanyl flows from Canada, Mexico and China and recommend “appropriate trade and national security measures to resolve that emergency.” It also signalled the U.S. trade repre- sentative to start consultations around the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement and “make recommendations regarding the United States’ participation in the agree- ment.” The move ostensibly gives Canada more time and information to safeguard against Trump’s promised 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs. But Trump wasn’t backing away, re- peatedly suggesting he might hit Canada and Mexico with the tariffs on Feb. 1. It’s not clear if that date holds any sig- nificance; Trump’s order says that the report on trade with Canada is not due until April 1. Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambas- sador to the U.S., said the memoran- dum provides Canadian officials with a framework and key department contacts to allow them to make the case against the tariffs. “We have now moved from a more abstract discussion with the Trump administration to a very concrete dis- cussion,” Hillman said at the cabinet re- treat. “That document lays out priorities, it lays out areas of study that are very important to him for his fulfilment of his trade and economic agenda. It’s very detailed.” Trump remains concerned about America’s border security, Hillman said. She cautioned people not to focus on Trump’s choice of words, which includ- ed calling Canada “a very bad abuser” in relation to migrants and illegal drugs crossing into the United States. It is a distraction tactic, she said, and Canada should instead look to where Trump’s priorities intersect with those of Canada in areas like energy, trade and Arctic security. Some officials and experts have sug- gested the damaging duties are part of Trump’s strategy to rattle Canada and Mexico ahead of a mandatory 2026 re- view of the trilateral trade pact. The negotiation of CUSMA, common- ly dubbed “the new NAFTA,” took place during Trump’s first administration. During those negotiations, the Republic- an president also promised massive tar- iffs on the Canadian auto sector — which never materialized — and put duties on steel and aluminum. When questioned by reporters Tues- day evening, Trump denied the recent threat of tariffs was part of a plan to expedite negotiations of the agreement, saying “it has nothing to do with that.” “Both of them, Canada very much so, they’ve allowed millions and millions of people to come into our country that shouldn’t be here,” Trump said, also claiming the volume of fentanyl coming through Canada was “massive.” U.S. Customs and Border Protection has reported that nearly 10,000 kilo- grams of fentanyl was seized at Amer- ican borders between October 2023 to September 2024 but only 20 kilograms of that was at the Canada-U.S. border. During the same time frame, 2.9 million people were apprehended and less than 200,000 came from Canada. The debate over Canada’s options for retaliatory tariffs has opened up div- isions among federal and provincial leaders. Ontario Premier Doug Ford initially suggested cutting off energy flows to the U.S. but has since appeared on American news programs promoting a “Fortress Am-Can” strategy intended to deepen the resource alliance between the two countries. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith caused controversy last week when she refused to endorse a joint statement with the other premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that said every possible countermeasure would be on the table. Trudeau will meet virtually with premiers today. While the prime minister said again Tuesday that every retaliatory option remains on the table, his ministers and Hillman have turned their focus to how Canada can support some of the Trump administration’s goals. Champagne, who attended Trump’s swearing-in ceremony on Capitol Hill Monday, said he reminded American lawmakers and leaders of the role Can- ada plays in supply chain resiliency, par- ticularly for the critical minerals and semiconductors needed by the defence sector. “Let’s not look at threats but opportun- ities,” he said. “I don’t know anything that the Amer- icans buy from Canada by politeness,” he added. “They buy from Canada be- cause they need it.” — The Canadian Press TOP NEWS A3 WEDNESDAY JANUARY 22, 2025 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM “Our response will be robust and rapid and mea- sured, but very strong. The goal will be to get those tariffs off as quickly as possible,” Trudeau said. The Liberals are offering few details about the plan itself, saying it will depend on what happens. Members of the prime minister’s new advisory council on Canada-U.S. relations who joined the cabinet retreat on Tuesday expressed confidence in the government’s preparations for tariffs. Flavio Volpe, president of the Auto Parts Manu- facturers’ Association, called for calm in the face of Trump’s changing tariff timelines. “What we don’t do is panic,” he said, pointing out that the executive order Trump signed on Monday instructs his government to study the trade relation- ship until April 1. Volpe said that is what he’s putting stock in, rather than an off-the-cuff comment. “I think we just have to get used to the fact that he’s not going to change and he’s not going away,” he said. Fellow council member Jean Charest said the Trump administration has a dilemma: it can either pursue “a growth agenda, or the tariff agenda, and the tariff agenda is the contrary of economic growth.” The former Quebec premier said the real conver- sation between the two countries will begin with a question: what does the Trump administration want, and what does Canada have to offer? Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said senior Canadian officials have been busy south of the border, aggressively making the case to key lawmakers and political influencers that Americans don’t buy things from Canada out of politeness, but out of necessity. “These supply chains have been created over decades and you cannot replace them easily in time,” he said. “If you say no to Canada — and I said that to a number of military personnel yesterday — be mind- ful of who you’re saying yes to. You’re probably say- ing yes to China on critical minerals, you’re probably saying yes to Venezuela on crude oil.” — The Canadian Press TRUDEAU ● FROM A1 SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested to U.S. President Donald Trump that less than one per cent of the illegal fentanyl and immigrants that enter the United States come from Canada. Stop playing defence on tariff threat, minister says KELLY GERALDINE MALONE Alberta premier doubles down on approach to tariff diplomacy LISA JOHNSON EDMONTON — As a possible Feb. 1 deadline looms for the United States to impose punishing tariffs on Canadian goods, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she’s sticking to her diplomatic ap- proach to try to stop them. Smith, in a virtual news conference from Washington on Tuesday, said Al- berta will have to “wait and see” what the tariffs look like before laying out a response. “I don’t think that there’s much point in trying to negotiate this in public with the media,” said Smith, who is in the U.S. capital to talk with lawmakers. “It’s far more important for us to be thoughtful about it, to see what actual- ly comes through, and then to be able to take a proportionate response.” She said Trump remains unpredict- able. “We don’t know when it’s coming in,” she said. “So until we see what it looks like, I don’t think we can really know what the Canadian response is going to be.” Trump said late Monday, hours after being sworn in as president, that he is thinking of instituting 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods starting Feb. 1. He had previously said the tariffs could come on his first day in office. Also Monday, Trump signed an exec- utive order directing federal agencies to study trade issues — including alleged unfair practices by Canada, Mexico and China — with an April 1 deadline. Smith said Canada must refrain from making retaliatory threats, because she doesn’t think the U.S. president “re- sponds well” to them and that Trump is “enthusiastic” about tariffs as a revenue source. She said she sees the reprieve as an opportunity to continue to make the friendly case to keep tariffs off the table. With Trump’s vocal support of pet- roleum production, Smith said pipeline companies are “dusting off old plans” that may have been shelved during the previous U.S. administration. Smith has pursued diplomacy to ad- dress Trump’s main irritants. Trump has pointed to Canada’s border security, military spending and trade imbalance — things Smith says can and should be rectified. Trump has also presented economic measures as a way to squeeze Canada and make it more amenable to being an- nexed by the U.S. Smith visited Trump at his Florida home earlier this month to make the case for unencumbered cross-border trade and is in Washington this week to tout cross-border energy to U.S. officials and lawmakers. She has broken ranks with her fellow premiers by dismissing talk of retalia- tory threats, including a counter-tariff on Alberta’s oil and gas shipments. That approach has come under fire from critics who say it undermines Canada’s negotiating position and that a more confrontational approach is need- ed to counter an existential threat to Canada’s sovereignty. Smith got some political help from an unexpected ally Tuesday. Bloc Québé- cois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said it would be “absurd” to cut energy exports. Smith also rejected a suggestion that her approach was all for naught. She said Tuesday if there’s any blame, it’s on Trudeau for failing to build bridges with Trump. Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said Smith has failed in her diplomatic efforts with Trump and has reverted to talking points that attack Ottawa. — The Canadian Press ;