Dealing with Trump will be 'a little more challenging' than last time: Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends a fireside chat with the Halifax Chamber of Commerce in Halifax on Monday December 9, 2024. (Riley Smith/The Canadian Press)

Ottawa — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said dealing with incoming president Donald Trump and his thundering on trade will be "a little more challenging" than the last time he was in the White House.

Speaking at an event put on by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, Trudeau said that's because Trump's team is coming in with a much clearer set of ideas of what they want to do right away than after his first election win in 2016.

Even still, Trudeau said the answer is not to panic and that Canada can rally together to address the tough scenario the nation will face following Trump's inauguration in January.

Trump has threatened 25 per cent tariffs against Canada and Mexico, if the two nations do not beef up their borders to his satisfaction.

It comes a day after Trump appeared in an interview with NBC's “Meet the Press,” where the president-elect said he can't guarantee the tariffs won't raise prices for U.S. consumers but that eventually tariffs will "make us rich.”

”All I want to do is I want to have a level, fast, but fair playing field,” he said.

Trudeau warned that steep tariffs could be "devastating for the Canadian economy" and cause "just horrific losses in all of our communities," and that Trump's approach is to introduce "a bit of chaos" to destabilize his negotiating partners.

But he also said that Canada exports a range of goods to the U.S., from steel and aluminum to crude oil and agricultural commodities, all of which would get more expensive and mean "real hardship" for Americans at the same time.

"For years, Americans have been paying more for their homes than they should because of unjust tariffs on softwood lumber. Maybe this level of tariffs will actually have them realize that this is something they are doing to themselves," Trudeau said.

"Trump got elected on a commitment to make life better and more affordable for Americans, and I think people south of the border are beginning to wake up to the real reality that tariffs on everything from Canada would make life a lot more expensive."

Experts including Canada's former top trade negotiator Steve Verheul have warned the country needs to be ready to respond if Trump goes through with his tariff threats.

The prime minister said his government is still mulling over "the right ways" to respond to tariffs, knowing that Canada's calculated approach when Trump hit Canada with steel and aluminum tariffs.

“It was the fact that we put tariffs on bourbon and Harley-Davidsons and playing cards and Heinz ketchup and cherries and a number of other things that were very carefully targeted because they were politically impactful to the president's party and colleagues," he said.

That's how Canada was able to "punch back in a way that was actually felt by Americans,” he added.

Trudeau also said the country needs to rally together and work past its political differences.

He offered up some rare words of praise for Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe — a frequent political thorn in his side and "no big fan of mine" — as one of Canada's strongest voices during that tumultuous time period when NAFTA was under threat.

"His voice with governors down south, his making the case for Canadian workers and Canadian trade in a way that complemented the arguments that we were making, did a better job of showing what Canadian unity was and (what) Canada's negotiating position could be to a United States that has a political system that is incredibly fractured and fractious," Trudeau said.

On Sunday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said "every single Conservative would tell every single American" that tariffs on Canada would be a bad idea — and also took time to bill Trudeau as a weak leader.

One member of his caucus, Conservative MP Jamil Jivani, said he had dinner with vice-president-elect JD Vance and British Conservative Opposition Leader Kemi Badenoch over the weekend in Arlington, Va.. He said it's crucial right now to be building "strong relationships with our allies."

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With files from The Associated Press, Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington and Rosa Saba in Toronto. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2024.