Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the creation of a Canada-U.S. relations council to aid the federal government in dealing with incoming U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threat.
The 18-member council includes Steve Verheul, who served as Canada’s chief trade negotiator during the renegotiation of NAFTA as well as former provincial premiers Jean Charest (Quebec), Rachel Notley (Alberta) and Stephen McNeil (Nova Scotia).
“The council will use sectoral expertise to support the prime minister and cabinet at this important time in the Canada-U.S. relationship,” reads a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office released Thursday.
The Trudeau government said it will wait until after Trump applies import tariffs before announcing any specific retaliatory measures following Wednesday’s meeting between the prime minister and the premiers.
“We are all united on one thing, which is we will stand up for Canada. We will protect Canadians. We will make sure that we are there to show what this country is made of,” said Trudeau.
“If the American administration moves forward with its plans on tariffs, it will, first and foremost, hurt American citizens and American consumers, but it will also hurt Canadians.”
However, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. told CTV News that there has been no sign from Trump’s incoming administration that the tariffs will be avoided, despite the government’s recent border security plan announcement.
“We’ve done some really great things on the border, which is what the incoming administration asked of us, and they’ve given us very good feedback on that. I know that that plan has been presented to the president, but we have not received an assurance,” said Hillman, who is also a member of the council.
Trump has vowed to impose a 25% tariff on all Canadian imports immediately upon taking office and with his inauguration now less than a week away, economists are bracing for the worst.
The tariffs are a punitive measure for Canada’s lax approach to border security.
“What I would say to Canadians, we just need to try and not jump the gun, not get over our skis,” said Hillman. “Let’s see what happens, let’s respond in a unified and firm way, and not escalate, but be strong.”
The new Canada-U.S. council will also include former ambassador David MacNaughton and the prime minister’s former national security Jody Thomas among others.
