Canadian businesses and unions to form new group to confer with Ottawa on Trump’s potential tariffs
Businesses and unions across the country are banding together to form a new group that will confer with Ottawa and the provinces as Canada faces trade threats from the incoming Donald Trump administration in Washington.
The Canada-U.S. Trade Council (CUSTC) will be guided by a number of counsellors including former senior Canadian government trade negotiator Steve Verheul, former Quebec premier Jean Charest and former federal industry minister James Moore.
Its membership, which is still growing, includes companies and labour groups that represent steel, aluminum, forest products, oil and gas, agri-food, dairy, chemistry, and banking as well as broader industry groups including the Business Council of Canada, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters.
Mr. Trump, the U.S. president-elect, takes office Jan. 20 and has threatened 25-per-cent tariffs on all Canadian goods until Canada stops illegal migration and drug smuggling from entering his country. He’s also repeatedly referred to Canada as the “51st state” called Mr. Trudeau its “governor,” and said he plans to try to use “economic force” to coax Canadians into annexation by the U.S.
The incoming president is also preoccupied with Canada’s trade imbalance with the United States. The U.S. trade deficit with Canada on an annual basis reached $100-billion as of early December – something Ottawa says is largely caused by Canada’s significant oil and natural gas sales to the Americans.
Finally, he’s also promised to renegotiate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2026, when it comes up for review.
The steering committee of the CUSTC will be led initially by the CEOs of the Aluminum Association of Canada and the Canadian Steel Producers Association, the group said in a statement Tuesday.
“This crisis is worth all our efforts, and we must seize the moment to grow Canada stronger within a safer, more secure and competitive business environment for our future,” Jean Simard, President and CEO, Aluminum Association of Canada, said in the statement.
Members of the group also include ArcelorMittal Dofasco, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the Canadian Bankers Association, the Chemical Industry Association of Canada, the Dairy Farmers of Canada, Glencore, the Forest Productions Association of Canada, the Mining Association of Canada, the Railway Association of Canada, Teck Resources, Unifor, United Steelworkers, and Canadian National Railways.
“Given the very seriousness of this moment and the existential threat to Canadian jobs and our economy, we see it’s important for Canadians to pull together and work together during these difficult times. We must put workers and the country first,” Lana Payne, national president of Unifor, said in a statement.
The CUSTC said it’s not a lobby group “but will focus instead on sharing information and ensuring an ongoing conversation, including with key government officials who have responsibilities on these files.”
The group will convene regular meetings to share information and ideas for how best to approach the tariff discussions and the subsequent USMCA review phase.
Other counsellors helping the council include Laura Dawson, executive director of the Canada-U.S. Future Borders Coalition and Adam Taylor, who served as an aide to former international trade minister Ed Fast.
This article was first reported by The Globe and Mail
