Donald Trump’s willingness to use trade as a weapon represents an existential threat to Canada’s prosperity and requires this country to secure its economic independence – both by increasing its capacity to export resources to other markets and spending more on defence, a group of Canadian leaders in foreign affairs and business says.
“Our country faces the most serious threat to its sovereignty and economic prosperity since the Second World War,” says a statement by the Expert Group on Canada-U. S. Relations.
“In less than three weeks, the United States will have a new President who has signaled his willingness to do severe damage to our country. Our response must be a strategy to put Canada’s interests first.”
This group’s members include Perrin Beatty, a former defence minister and business leader; Vincent Rigby, a former national security and intelligence adviser; former Canadian ambassador Jonathan Fried; and former trade negotiator John Weekes.
Within weeks of winning the 2024 presidential election, Mr. Trump began targeting Canada with threats and jokes, mostly through social media. He said he would impose steep tariffs over illegal migration and drug smuggling and remains fixated on an imbalance in two-way trade that he says amounts to the U.S. subsidizing Canada.
Mr. Trump has also repeatedly expressed adesire to annex Canada, making it the “51st state” and has mocked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as Canada’s governor. On Christmas Day, Mr. Trump suggested in a post that the United States should take control of Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada.
“The incoming president is clear about his disdain for our country and has threatened to impose a 25-per-cent tariff on Canadian imports unless we satisfy his demands,” the expert group said.
Mr. Trump“has said that his policy is ‘America First.’ Our response should be to support and strengthen Canada’s sovereignty and economic security.”
Mr. Trump’s team remains preoccupied with Canada’s trade imbalance with the United States, as The Globe and Mail reported last week. 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.
Canada must ramp up its capacity to export energy such as natural gas, as well as critical minerals, to other markets besides the United States in order to lessen dependence on American trade sanctions, the group said.
“This will require major regulatory changes to make infrastructure and resource projects easier to develop and to reduce restrictions on oil and gas production,” the group said. “The federal and provincial governments must fast-track key projects and not subject them to endless environmental impact assessment reviews and regulatory hurdles.”
Mr. Beatty, in an interview, said Canada is currently giving the United States a discount on energy because Canadians earn less for their petroleum sales than they could in other export markets.
“We’ve allowed ourselves to become captive to one customer, he said. “Mr. Trump talks about the U.S. subsidizing Canada, but we have been subsidizing them by not getting world prices on our oil and gas, because we have not shipped to global markets.”
Mr. Trump’s repeated threats to Canada are already hurting its currency and driving away foreign investors, the group says. Canada needs to take measures to change that, it says, including eliminating any excuse for the president-elect to impose sanctions on Canada.
This includes working with the Americans to secure the border and deal with concerns about illegal migration and fentanyl smuggling from Canada, but also boosting defence spending to 2 per cent of annual economic output as both Washington and Canada’s NATO allies have urged.
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“Donald Trump ([url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/topics/donald-trump/[/url]) has signaled that he will use trade as a weapon in any dispute with Canada. We are already seeing the effects of his threats on the Canadian dollar and investment,” the group said.
Canada announced $1.3-billion in extra border spending over six years to address Mr. Trump’s concerns and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc flew to Palm Beach, Fla., to meet with the president-elect’s team on Dec. 29. Canada has not obtained assurances these measures are sufficient to avoid tariffs ([url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/topics/tariff/[/url]).
“We are convinced that more can be done, especially in managing the shared crises of unauthorized migration and narcotics and gun trafficking, while ensuring efficient movement of legitimate travel and trade,” the expert group said.
“Additionally, we firmly believe it is in Canada’s interests to rapidly accelerate defence spending to meet and surpass NATO’s 2 per cent of GDP target and, importantly, strengthen Canada’s defence industrial base.”
It would take an additional $17-billion in annual defence spending for Canada to reach 2 per cent. Canada is still a laggard in meeting this North Atlantic Treaty Organization target. Right now it spends about 1.37 per cent but Mr. Trudeau’s government has said it has a plan to reach 2 per cent by 2032 – a date critics have said is distant.
The group cautioned against overreacting to Mr. Trump’s steady stream of threats and mocking. “We should not respond to every provocation. Reacting indignantly to each tweet and taunt simply invites more of them.”
“The incoming President senses weakness and exploits it. His approach is transactional and zero-sum. He believes there are only winners and losers in this world. Accordingly, Canada cannot simply yield to his every whim and demand.”
The experts said the most effective advocates for Canada will be American businesses and consumer groups who will suffer price increases because of Trump tariffs.
“We must persuade American business leaders and consumer groups to lead the debate in the U.S. on why tariffs against Canadian goods and services will hurt Americans where it counts – the pocketbook,” they said.
The expert group is co-sponsored by the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, and the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. Mr. Beatty and Fen Hampson, a professor of international affairs at Carleton University, are co-chairs.
Other members of the group include Tom d’Aquino, founding CEO of the Business Council of Canada; former Alberta cabinet minister Gary Mar; Laura Dawson, executive director of the Future Border Coalition, a group working to eliminate trade barriers at the Canada-U. S. border; international trade lawyer Lawrence Herman; Canada West Foundation executive Carlo Dade; and former Canada West Foundation president and MP Martha Hall Findlay.
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“Our country faces the most serious threat to its sovereignty and economic prosperity since the Second World War,” says a statement by the Expert Group on Canada-U. S. Relations.
“In less than three weeks, the United States will have a new President who has signaled his willingness to do severe damage to our country. Our response must be a strategy to put Canada’s interests first.”
This group’s members include Perrin Beatty, a former defence minister and business leader; Vincent Rigby, a former national security and intelligence adviser; former Canadian ambassador Jonathan Fried; and former trade negotiator John Weekes.
Within weeks of winning the 2024 presidential election, Mr. Trump began targeting Canada with threats and jokes, mostly through social media. He said he would impose steep tariffs over illegal migration and drug smuggling and remains fixated on an imbalance in two-way trade that he says amounts to the U.S. subsidizing Canada.
Mr. Trump has also repeatedly expressed adesire to annex Canada, making it the “51st state” and has mocked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as Canada’s governor. On Christmas Day, Mr. Trump suggested in a post that the United States should take control of Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada.
“The incoming president is clear about his disdain for our country and has threatened to impose a 25-per-cent tariff on Canadian imports unless we satisfy his demands,” the expert group said.
Mr. Trump“has said that his policy is ‘America First.’ Our response should be to support and strengthen Canada’s sovereignty and economic security.”
Mr. Trump’s team remains preoccupied with Canada’s trade imbalance with the United States, as The Globe and Mail reported last week. 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.
Canada must ramp up its capacity to export energy such as natural gas, as well as critical minerals, to other markets besides the United States in order to lessen dependence on American trade sanctions, the group said.
“This will require major regulatory changes to make infrastructure and resource projects easier to develop and to reduce restrictions on oil and gas production,” the group said. “The federal and provincial governments must fast-track key projects and not subject them to endless environmental impact assessment reviews and regulatory hurdles.”
Mr. Beatty, in an interview, said Canada is currently giving the United States a discount on energy because Canadians earn less for their petroleum sales than they could in other export markets.
“We’ve allowed ourselves to become captive to one customer, he said. “Mr. Trump talks about the U.S. subsidizing Canada, but we have been subsidizing them by not getting world prices on our oil and gas, because we have not shipped to global markets.”
Mr. Trump’s repeated threats to Canada are already hurting its currency and driving away foreign investors, the group says. Canada needs to take measures to change that, it says, including eliminating any excuse for the president-elect to impose sanctions on Canada.
This includes working with the Americans to secure the border and deal with concerns about illegal migration and fentanyl smuggling from Canada, but also boosting defence spending to 2 per cent of annual economic output as both Washington and Canada’s NATO allies have urged.
As Trump pledges tariffs, here are five things we know so far ([url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-trump-tariffs-canada-mexico-what-to-know/[/url])
“Donald Trump ([url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/topics/donald-trump/[/url]) has signaled that he will use trade as a weapon in any dispute with Canada. We are already seeing the effects of his threats on the Canadian dollar and investment,” the group said.
Canada announced $1.3-billion in extra border spending over six years to address Mr. Trump’s concerns and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc flew to Palm Beach, Fla., to meet with the president-elect’s team on Dec. 29. Canada has not obtained assurances these measures are sufficient to avoid tariffs ([url]https://www.theglobeandmail.com/topics/tariff/[/url]).
“We are convinced that more can be done, especially in managing the shared crises of unauthorized migration and narcotics and gun trafficking, while ensuring efficient movement of legitimate travel and trade,” the expert group said.
“Additionally, we firmly believe it is in Canada’s interests to rapidly accelerate defence spending to meet and surpass NATO’s 2 per cent of GDP target and, importantly, strengthen Canada’s defence industrial base.”
It would take an additional $17-billion in annual defence spending for Canada to reach 2 per cent. Canada is still a laggard in meeting this North Atlantic Treaty Organization target. Right now it spends about 1.37 per cent but Mr. Trudeau’s government has said it has a plan to reach 2 per cent by 2032 – a date critics have said is distant.
The group cautioned against overreacting to Mr. Trump’s steady stream of threats and mocking. “We should not respond to every provocation. Reacting indignantly to each tweet and taunt simply invites more of them.”
“The incoming President senses weakness and exploits it. His approach is transactional and zero-sum. He believes there are only winners and losers in this world. Accordingly, Canada cannot simply yield to his every whim and demand.”
The experts said the most effective advocates for Canada will be American businesses and consumer groups who will suffer price increases because of Trump tariffs.
“We must persuade American business leaders and consumer groups to lead the debate in the U.S. on why tariffs against Canadian goods and services will hurt Americans where it counts – the pocketbook,” they said.
The expert group is co-sponsored by the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, and the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. Mr. Beatty and Fen Hampson, a professor of international affairs at Carleton University, are co-chairs.
Other members of the group include Tom d’Aquino, founding CEO of the Business Council of Canada; former Alberta cabinet minister Gary Mar; Laura Dawson, executive director of the Future Border Coalition, a group working to eliminate trade barriers at the Canada-U. S. border; international trade lawyer Lawrence Herman; Canada West Foundation executive Carlo Dade; and former Canada West Foundation president and MP Martha Hall Findlay.
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