Canada – US Relations: 1) (Updated) Smith opposes blocking energy exports to U.S. but Ford wants to keep option open; 2) (Update) Tariffs from U.S. could cost up to 500k Ontario jobs, Doug Ford says; 3) (Updated) Premiers urge unity in face of U.S. tariff threats, Alberta demands energy exemption; 4) Trump’s swearing-in will move inside the Capitol Rotunda because of intense cold weather
1) (Updated) Smith opposes blocking energy exports to U.S. but Ford wants to keep option open
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Lisa Johnson, Jack Farrell, and David Baxter, January 13, 2025
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, fresh off a weekend visit with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, cautioned Ottawa against blocking energy exports to the U.S. in response to Trump’s tariff threat on Monday — but Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he wants to keep the option open.
“Oil and gas is owned by the provinces, principally Alberta, and we won’t stand for that,” Smith told reporters in a virtual news conference.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, meanwhile, said Monday he wants to see Canada block exports to the United States of critical minerals like aluminum, lithium and potash in response to the tariff threat.
“So if (Trump) wants to pick a fight with Canada, we have to make sure it’s clear that it’s going to hurt Americans as well,” Singh told a news conference in Ottawa.
Ford said that while an embargo on energy and critical mineral exports to the U.S. is the last thing he wants to see, Canada shouldn’t rule out any means to inflict economic pain on the U.S. if the tariff dispute escalates.
Canada’s critical minerals exports to the United States were valued at nearly $30 billion in 2023. That’s nearly 60 per cent of the value of all Canadian critical mineral exports.
“I want to ship them more critical minerals. I want to ship them more energy,” Ford said. “But make no mistake about it. If they’re coming full-tilt at us, I won’t hesitate to pull out every single tool we have until they can feel the pain. But that’s the last thing I want to do.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly hasn’t ruled out an energy embargo in response to Trump’s promise to impose punishing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian products.
Smith said the federal government shouldn’t be making “empty threats,” and it’s not Joly’s call to make. She said cutting off pipeline supplies through Michigan would choke key supplies to Ontario and Quebec as well.
If Ottawa moves to cut off energy exports, Smith said, “they will have a national unity crisis on their hands at the same time as having a crisis with our U.S. trade partners.”
Alberta’s premier said Canada needs to be prepared for the tariffs to come into effect on Jan. 20, Trump’s first day in office. “I haven’t seen any indication in any of the president’s public commentary, or even in the comments that he had with me, that he’s inclined to change his approach,” she said.
Singh argued that the fact Trump still intends to implement broad-based tariffs after he and members of his administration met with Joly, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc shows he can’t be reasoned with.
“Donald Trump is not rational. You can’t discuss a plan over a meal with him. He is a bully. And bullies understand one thing … that is strength. They also understand pain,” Singh said.
Canada is a primary exporter to the U.S. for several critical minerals, including graphite, potash and zinc.
The U.S. imports all of its graphite, which is used in manufacturing a wide range of products, from pencils to nuclear reactors. China, Mexico and Madagascar are the other major suppliers of graphite to the U.S. market.
Over the weekend, Joly said Canadians need to “be ready” for economic threats, adding all leaders need to put Canada first and show a united front.
“We have to be very realistic, very pragmatic, and we have to be ready, because something we can’t do is not to take president-elect Trump at his word. Because when he says something, he usually does it,” Joly said Sunday on CBC’s Rosemary Barton Live.
She said Ottawa is pursuing a strategy to engage the incoming U.S. administration through measures that include a new border plan, developing military alliances and co-operating on energy issues.
“And at the same time, we’re working on a retaliation plan,” said Joly.
“I can’t go into the details of that retaliation plan, because I think it would be a bad strategy. But what I can tell you is everything is on the table.”
Smith visited Trump at his Florida home over the weekend as a guest of Canadian businessman and television personality Kevin O’Leary.
O’Leary has suggested that it would benefit Canada to combine its economy with that of the U.S. and “erase the border” separating the two countries.
Smith will be attending Trump’s inauguration next week. She has been on a diplomatic offensive of late, meeting with American elected officials and appearing on news broadcasts south of the border. She has argued the tariffs would harm both Canadian and American consumers, particularly through higher gas prices.
Smith said Monday the incoming president’s biggest source of irritation is the trade imbalance with Canada. She said she expects Trump’s promised tariffs to remain in effect until the imbalance is resolved.
“I think the solution is that we find ways to buy more American goods and that seems to me to be the very logical step that we should take. So I’ll put that on the table,” she said.
She and other premiers are expected to meet with Trudeau to discuss the issue on Wednesday.
“There’s a lot of rumors going around. But when we get there Wednesday, we’ll expect a list and we need them to be 100 per cent ready,” Ford said of potential retaliatory tariffs.
When asked if excluding energy from those retaliatory tariffs might undermine the negotiating position of other premiers, or of Canada as a whole, Smith said she feels talking about energy is the “way we make the case” to avoid tariffs on every Canadian product.
If Alberta’s energy exports were taken out of the trade equation, the Americans would have a trade surplus with Canada, she said.
Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King is on his own economic mission to the northeastern United States, including Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
King is leading a 22-person delegation meeting with industry leaders, business associations and stakeholders to promote P.E.I.’s contributions to the potato and seafood sectors.
– With files from Hina Alam
2) (Update) Tariffs from U.S. could cost up to 500k Ontario jobs, Doug Ford says
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Allison Jones, Jan. 14, 2025
Ontario officials estimate that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on Canadian goods could cost up to half a million jobs, Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday as he called for stronger and more visible action from the federal government.
The actual number of Ontario jobs affected by the 25 per cent tariffs Trump has vowed to impose on Canadian goods will depend on which sectors are targeted, Ford said, adding his government’s ministries have told him it could be between 450,000 and 500,000.
“This is serious,” Ford told a press conference. “It’s unprecedented.”
All 13 premiers are set to meet Wednesday with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss the tariff threat. Ford said that with inauguration day less than a week away, a plan for how to respond to the tariffs should have been finalized by now.
“I’m going to be blunt: they need to get their act together,” Ford said. “Simple as that. It shouldn’t be up to the premiers to be calling for a followup, in-person meeting. This should have happened a while ago, and we need to work as Team Canada. We can’t have a divided Canada. We have to make sure we all stick together and we’re all singing off the same song sheet.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who recently visited with Trump in Florida, has cautioned the federal government against blocking energy exports to the U.S. in response to tariffs, while Ford has said all options should be on the table.
One of the reasons Trump has cited for imposing tariffs is the state of border security. While Ottawa has pledged $1.3 billion to tackle the issue, Ford said it’s not moving quickly enough.
“We need the federal government to step up with a solid plan for securing our border, and to make sure they get their two per cent NATO commitment,” Ford said, referring to Canada’s defence spending.
“We heard a number thrown out there, $1.3 billion for our border protection. I have yet to see anything, nothing at all,” Ford said, adding that federal Public Safety Minister David McGuinty “needs to come out of hiding” and publicly lay out Ottawa’s plan.
Ford is set to meet Tuesday afternoon with Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc.
The premier also has said he may need to spend tens of billions of dollars in response to the effects of the tariffs in Ontario, and has suggested he is thinking about calling an early election in order to put that type of stimulus spending to voters.
He did not indicate the timing he may have in mind, but did say he believes Trump may try to “slow roll” the tariffs.
In a social media post on Tuesday, though, Trump pledged to create an external revenue service on inauguration day to start collecting “tariffs, duties and all revenue that come from foreign sources.”
“We will begin charging those that make money off of us with Trade, and they will start paying, FINALLY, their fair share. January 20, 2025, will be the birth date of the External Revenue Service. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump said in the post.
It was not clear how such a department would work. The U.S. secretary of the treasury establishes regulations and Customs and Border Protection collects applicable tariffs at U.S. ports of entry. The creation of such a department likely would require approval from Congress.
Still, the Truth Social post is another indication that Trump intends to impose the sweeping tariffs when he takes office next week.
Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper said he has “a real problem” with the things Trump has been saying about the trade relationship.
In an interview with an American podcaster released on Monday, Harper swatted down Trump’s claim that the U.S. is subsidizing Canada, attributing the “modest trade surplus” to the fact that the U.S. buys so much Canadian oil and gas at a discount to world markets.
“It’s actually Canada that subsidizes the United States in this regard,” he said.
Harper said the shared defence of North America through Norad is also not a subsidy. “The United States does that because it’s in the vital interest of the United States,” he said. “Do you want Canada to be a neutral country?”
He also said there’s no major flow of migrants into the U.S. from Canada, while calling the Biden administration’s policy on the southern border “disgraceful.”
“I’m gonna tell you right now: drugs, guns, crime — most of those things flow north, not south,” Harper said..
— With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington
3) (Updated) Premiers urge unity in face of U.S. tariff threats, Alberta demands energy exemption
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Sarah Ritchie and David Baxter, January 15, 2025
Ontario Premier Doug Ford arrives for a first ministers meeting in Ottawa on Wednesday, Jan.15, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
The country’s premiers emerged from a key meeting about Canada-U.S. relations in Ottawa on Wednesday with a message of unity and a pledge to stand together, with one exception: Alberta’s Danielle Smith, who said she cannot support the federal government’s plan if energy export tariffs could be a part of it.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who chaired the first ministers’ meeting, said it was “highly productive.”
“We have a shared sense of purpose, a shared sense of understanding, and a commitment to stand together on a united path forward,” he said.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, who has long been a vocal critic of Trudeau’s Liberal government, began Wednesday by echoing Smith’s concerns that blocking energy exports to the United States would trigger a national unity crisis.
After the meeting, he struck a diplomatic tone.
“Canadians can be thankful their 13 premiers, the prime minister and a few federal ministers are coming together not only to hash out what those differences might be, but to understand where we can come together,” Moe said.
But as the premiers spoke to reporters in Ottawa, Smith, who attended the meeting remotely while on vacation and didn’t take part in the press conference, took to social media to explain why she refused to sign a joint statement with her colleagues.
“Alberta will simply not agree to export tariffs on our energy or other products, nor do we support a ban on exports of these same products. We will take whatever actions are needed to protect the livelihoods of Albertans from such destructive federal policies,” said Smith.
She added that Canada needs to “correct the misguided direction of this country” and focus on developing, upgrading and exporting oil and gas and other resources.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, chair of the Council of the Federation, said he respects that Smith is concerned with protecting Alberta energy but he believes incoming U.S. president Donald Trump is trying to divide and conquer.
“He’s coming full-tilt at Canadians as a whole, and that’s one thing we have to understand. We need to be united,” Ford said.
Trump has threatened to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods beginning on Jan. 20, inauguration day.
While he initially said the tariffs were being imposed in response to drugs and illegal immigration crossing the shared border, he has since pivoted to citing the United States’ trade deficit with Canada.
Senior government officials have previously said Ottawa is looking at imposing retaliatory tariffs on things like American steel, ceramics, plastics and orange juice.
Trudeau said Wednesday he supports the principle of a dollar-for-dollar response to the American tariffs, but said Canada must wait to see what Trump actually does next week before laying out a response.
“We’ll make sure that it’s fair across the country, but nothing can be off the table if the U.S. continues to choose to move forward with these punishing tariffs on both Canadians and Americans,” Trudeau said.
He also opened the door to providing federal bailouts for industries or regions that are affected by tariffs.
“We’ve made the commitment to do everything we can, and I know everyone around the table has agreed to, if their region is less impacted, they’ll do what they can to help out regions that are more impacted,” he said.
Canada is the top supplier of foreign oil to the U.S. and accounts for about one-fifth of its oil supply.
Energy Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, who was in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, said initial retaliatory tariffs will be targeted.
“If we have to do more we will look at other things, but the idea of tariffing energy will probably be one of the last things,” he said.
Trudeau and the premiers said they plan to continue making the case to the Trump administration that tariffs will hurt American businesses and industry, too.
“The question that we ask ourselves first and foremost is, if the new administration chooses to bring in tariffs, what is it that we can do that result in the lifting of those tariffs as quickly as possible?” Trudeau said.
4) Trump’s swearing-in will move inside the Capitol Rotunda because of intense cold weather
Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press
By Zeke Miller, January 17, 2025
President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office from inside the Capitol Rotunda on Monday due to forecasts of intense cold weather.
“The weather forecast for Washington, D.C., with the windchill factor, could take temperatures into severe record lows,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. “There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country. I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way.”
The Rotunda is prepared as an alternative for each inauguration in the event of inclement weather. The swearing-in was last moved indoors in 1985, when President Ronald Reagan began his second term. Monday’s forecast calls for the lowest inauguration day temperatures since that day.
Outgoing President Joe Biden, members of Congress and other dignitaries and notable guests will be able to view the ceremony from inside the Capitol.
Alternate plans are required for the more than roughly 250,000 guests ticketed to view the inauguration from around the Capitol grounds and the tens of thousands more expected to be in general admission areas or to line the inaugural parade route from the Capitol to the White House.
Trump said some supporters would be able to watch the ceremony from Washington’s Capital One Arena on Monday, a day after he plans to hold a rally there. He said he would visit the arena, which has a capacity of about 20,000, after his swearing-in, and host a modified inaugural parade there.
Trump said other inaugural events, including the Sunday rally and his participation in three official inaugural balls on Monday night, would take place as scheduled.
The National Weather Service is predicting the temperature to be around 22 degrees (minus-6 Celsius) at noon during the swearing-in, the coldest since Reagan’s second inauguration saw temperatures plunge to 7 degrees (minus-14 Celsius). Barack Obama’s 2009 swearing-in was 28 degrees (minus-2 Celsius).
“The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies will honor the request of the President-elect and his Presidential Inaugural Committee to move the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies inside the U.S. Capitol to the Rotunda,” a spokesperson said Friday.
___ AP writers Seth Borenstein, Michelle Price and Farnoush Amiri contributed from Washington
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