Tariff anxieties in Washington cross both sides of U.S. political spectrum, says Holt
N.B. premier hopes Republicans' concerns can help the fight against Trump's tariff threat
New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt says meetings this week in Washington, D.C., have shown her there's widespread opposition to potential U.S. tariffs, and it's coming from both sides of the political spectrum.
Holt has been in the U.S. capital alongside Canada's 12 other premiers, hoping to back the administration down from President Donald Trump's threats to impose crippling tariffs on Canadian imports.
Holt said she's met with lawmakers from several states, including North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Maine, and heard concerns expressed even among Republicans about Trump's tariff threats.
"We haven't met with someone in support of the tariffs," Holt said, speaking to reporters Wednesday afternoon from Washington.
"Everyone we have met with — Republican and Democrat alike — have recognized the damage that the tariffs will do in their state to their workers and to their economies."
Trump has said he plans to impose a universal 25 per cent tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico starting next month, aside from energy products, which will be subject to a 10 per cent tariff.
He has promised a 25 per cent tariff starting March 12 on all steel and aluminum imports.
Holt said anti-tariff Republican lawmakers she's met with include Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who chairs the Senate appropriations committee.
In a Jan. 31 post on X, Collins said certain tariffs would "impose a significant burden" on families and businesses, adding she was working with the Trump administration to help its officials better understand the potential effects on Maine.
Holt said her hope is that concerns by Collins and other Republicans can make their way to the president and potentially push him to walk back his plans.
"[In] one of our very first meetings today, and actually [in] our conversation with a senator yesterday as well, they both said explicitly that they had already passed on messages to the administration about the impact [of tariffs] on businesses in their state," said Holt, who is to return to New Brunswick on Thursday afternoon.
"And so that's exactly the kind of thing that we are here to encourage, is folks expressing the real impact on the ground to Americans, to American jobs, to the economy."
Meeting with Trump advisers
Whether the advocacy by Holt and other premiers pays off could be learned Wednesday afternoon.
Council of the Federation spokesperson Paola St-George issued an email notice that the premiers had been invited to a meeting with senior Trump advisers that afternoon.
Holt's news conference was held prior to the start of that meeting, and she didn't know exactly which U.S. officials would be there.
"I think there's a number of senior officials that that we've been told may be participating," Holt said.
New Brunswick is not unlike other Canadian provinces when it comes to the importance of free trade south of the border.
Agriculture, seafood and forest products produced in New Brunswick have significant markets in the U.S., and Holt has said the tariffs could cost the province 4,000 to 6,000 jobs.
Holt said the delegation to Washington includes representatives from companies such as Mrs. Dunster's, Cooke Aquaculture, J.D. Irving Ltd., and industry representatives for potato and snow crab producers.
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