Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he would retaliate against U.S. tariffs if he were elected prime minister, potentially matching them dollar for dollar.
In an interview with CTV News Atlantic’s Todd Battis, Poilievre, providing details of his plan for the first time, said he would target American products and services Canada doesn’t need or can make in-house if President Donald Trump implemented his much-talked-about 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports.
“We’re both going to lose as Americans and Canadians if we get in a trade war,” he said. “We can buy elsewhere to maximize the impact on Americans and minimize the impact on Canadians.”
When asked if the retaliation could be dollar for dollar, Poilievre said, “I would say so. It has to hit hard. We have to be very pinpoint and surgical.”
President Trump has proposed implementing the tariffs on Feb. 1. According to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, roughly $3.6 billion in goods cross the border every day.
The Chamber also says 2.3 million Canadian jobs are tied to U.S. exports.
Poilievre, who is visiting the Maritimes this week, said if he were prime minister he would pass an emergency “bring-it-home” tax cut to stimulate economic growth in the country. He also suggested he would eliminate barriers for interprovincial trade.
“We have freer trade now with the Americans than ourselves,” he said. “We have to knock down those barriers. If (America is) going to be an unreliable trade partner, we’ve got to find ways to sell more to ourselves and the world.”
Poilievre said his goal as prime minister would be to approve resource and energy projects as quickly as possible, laying out a plan to repeal Bill C-69. He also expressed support for a project similar to the defunct Energy East pipeline.
“I’d strongly support an east-west pipeline,” he said. “That particular project probably won’t be resuscitated, but the idea of selling western oil to eastern refineries is impeccable.
“The alternative is we continue to sell at a discount in the west and buy at a premium in the east and lose money millions of times every single day is economic suicide and stupidity.”
Earlier this week, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston issued a memo to his caucus outlining his vision for the province to become more self-sufficient by, among other things, focusing on energy developments. He also suggested that, no matter what party forms the next government, the province could probably expect fewer transfer payments.
Poilievre said, if elected, he wouldn’t propose cuts to transfer payments.
“My plan is to enrich the Maritime provinces,” he said. “There’s no reason why the Maritime provinces can’t move into the ‘have’ category.”
