Carney hits back at Trump's auto tariffs, warns U.S. trade action will 'rupture the global economy'
'We must respond with both purpose and force,' Liberal leader says after Trump takes aim at Canada again
Liberal Leader Mark Carney said Thursday U.S. President Donald Trump's move to levy tariffs on virtually every country will "rupture the global economy," torpedo economic growth and prompt devastating consequences for workers and businesses in this country and around the world.
Carney said Trump's tariffs against Canadian goods are "unjustified, unwarranted and, in our judgment, misguided," and the country must hit back with what he called "carefully calibrated and targeted countermeasures" to make it clear Canada will not stand for this sort of economic broadside.
The Liberal leader said the government will levy a tariff on U.S.-made vehicles that are not compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, to match what the Americans did to the Canadian auto industry Wednesday.
"We must respond with both purpose and force," he said. "We are a free, sovereign and ambitious country. We are masters in our own home. We will fight to bring these tariffs to an end."
The tariff of these U.S. cars will affect billions of dollars worth of imported passenger vehicles, according to government estimates. This measure follows the retaliatory tariffs imposed last month on some $60 billion worth of American goods as payback for Trump's other tariff schemes.
Carney said the U.S. trade war is already having an impact — Stellantis will idle its massive Windsor, Ont., auto assembly plant and leave some 3,200 autoworkers in the lurch because of Trump's tariffs on Canadian-made vehicles.
Carney said the government is expecting more tariffs on Canadian lumber, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors in the days ahead as Trump claims he has to slap levies on those products in the name of "national defence."
Ottawa "will do everything in our power" to protect workers, including with financial assistance, Carney said, while promising to direct all tariff funds raised by taxing American goods toward helping employees affected by what could be a very tumultuous time ahead.
Pursuing more 'reliable' trading partners
Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada, said the U.S. tariffs will be hugely disruptive for the American economy — growth will slow even as prices increase — and there could be a recession there soon, which means there could be knock-on effects in Canada.
Carney said Trump is dismantling the world trading system and Canada must make a hard pivot to build up its own economy and pursue better relations with "reliable" trading partners, including Commonwealth cousins like Australia and the U.K., but also Mexico, France and other countries in Europe.
"The global economy is fundamentally different today than it was yesterday. We must do extraordinary things for ourselves, we must do things previously thought impossible at speeds we haven't seen in generations," Carney said, promising to do away with internal trade barriers and turbocharge economic development with an ambitious building program.
"We are living in a new world now. It will be hard on Canadians but I have no doubt we will rise to the challenge," he said, adding that the country has rallied in the past in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and can do it again.
Carney said Canada's "old relationship" with the U.S. is "over" and the decades-long push to become more integrated with the Americans will come to an end as Trump ramps up his attacks on the country.
But Carney said there's still an opportunity to come to some sort of an agreement with Trump on economic and security issues after the upcoming federal election.
Carney said he agreed with Trump to sit down after the campaign — if he wins the election — to renegotiate CUSMA, which has been left in tatters as a result of the president's trade war.
Trump's 3-pronged approach
Trump is pursuing a three-pronged approach to tariffs as he tries to radically reshape the American economy.
There are the "reciprocal" tariffs that Trump imposed Wednesday on a whole host of other countries except Canada and Mexico.
Then there are so-called "section 232" tariffs that have already been levied on Canadian steel and aluminum and, as of last night, automobiles.
And third, there's the 25 per cent border-related tariff on virtually all products to punish Canada for what the president has described as an "emergency" drug crisis fuelled by fentanyl coming in from the north.
Carney said Thursday the drug excuse for tariffs doesn't hold up with so little fentanyl being seized at the northern border after Canada rolled out a billion-dollar border package to crack down on trafficking.
He said Canada still has allies in the U.S. Congress and praised the American senators from both parties who voted for a resolution to pull Trump's authority to impose "emergency" drug-related tariffs. While the resolution passed the upper house, it has little hope of clearing the Republican-controlled House of Representaties or getting past a Trump veto.
Carney said that vote was "a symbolic but important assertion of both fact and solidarity."
- This Sunday, Cross Country Checkup is asking: What questions do you have about 'Made in Canada' and how to buy Canadian? Leave your comment here and we may read it or call you back for our show on April 6!
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Thursday Trump has "once again attacked our country and our jobs," and it demands a response.
WATCH: 'Canadians watched with anger and anxiety,' says Poilievre of new Trump tariffs
"To the hard-working Canadians and businesses directly hit by these unjustified tariffs, I say your concerns are my concern today," he said while announcing a policy proposal to exempt Canadian-made vehicles from the GST to spur sales.
"A new Conservative government will make it a priority to keep industry moving and workers working."
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