Carney says he and Trump have agreed to ‘intensify negotiations’ amid renewed tariff escalation

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning and the two leaders have “agreed to intensify negotiations in the coming weeks” amid a renewed tariff escalation.

On Monday, President Trump signed a series of executive orders that would slap a 50 per cent tariff on a wide range of Canadian goods in 30 days.

The new tariffs would not be exempt under CUSMA, Trump’s administration said.

“President Trump is taking action to hold Canada accountable for its continued discrimination against and unreasonable and unequal treatment of U.S. commerce that has burdened and disadvantaged hardworking Americans,” a fact sheet from the White House said, referring in large part to provincial bans on U.S. liquor.

Canada’s supply managed dairy system and quotas on certain U.S. vehicles are also factors.

All provinces have currently banned the sale of U.S. alcohol, with the exceptions of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

When asked on Tuesday if Trump’s latest threats could potentially result in U.S. booze being stocked on shelves again, Carney said it wasn’t his call alone to make.

“The provinces individually took those decisions in response to a series of tariffs that were put in place, and also threats to our sovereignty. Those measures have been supported by provincial citizens … the decision to change that, first and foremost, will be taken by the provinces themselves, each individually, and should only be taken, in my judgement, as part of an overall agreement and that’s what we will work to accomplish,” he said.

When asked if Canada would potentially retaliate with new tariffs of its own if Trump’s 50 per cent quotas come into effect, Carney kept the door open to a plethora of possibilities.

“We will look at all options in terms of how we would respond if they do come into effect,” he said.

“This is part of a negotiation, so the first objective is to get a comprehensive agreement that benefits obviously both countries, that is consistent with CUSMA.”

“We will do whatever it takes and keep all options (open).”

Ford says he’s ‘tired’ of Trump’s ‘bullying’

On Tuesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he has no plans to restock American-made booze on LCBO shelves, after Trump highlighted the issue as a point of contention in the trade negotiations.

“We can’t keep rolling over for President Trump,” Ford told reporters at a press conference. “We can’t back down. We need a full team Canada approach.”

“We need a plan from the prime minister,” he added. “We need to hit him back as hard as we can. I’m tired of a bully trying to take our lunch money all the time.”

“We need to stand up to the bully,” Ford said of Trump. “We need to hit him tariff for tariff all the way across the board.”

“I’m losing patience,” he added.

“He’s (Trump) nothing but a bully, that’s all he is, and you have to stand up to the bullies in the schoolyard or they’re going to take your lunch money.”

Trump says Canada won’t survive without U.S.

Speaking at the White House Tuesday, Trump that he loves the “people of Canada” but claimed the country needs the United States to survive.

“Canada’s been very, very tough on us over the years, for many years, and no other president’s done anything about it,” Trump said.

Trump added that the new tariffs are separate from his threats to hit Canada with additional levies due to wildfire smoke. He repeated his claim that Canada is not managing its forests properly.

The latest round of threatened tariffs fall under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930.

The White House said Section 338 empowers the president to impose tariffs when a country puts U.S. exporters at a disadvantage relative to exporters in other countries.

With files from The Canadian Press