Quebec Premier François Legault on Thursday endorsed Ottawa’s response to the latest round of U.S. tariffs, saying any retaliation must be targeted to avoid doing more damage to Canada’s economy.
Canada was “relatively spared” by U.S. President Donald Trump’s move on Wednesday to levy tariffs on most countries, Legault said, but the nation must remain “on guard.”
The White House said goods covered by the free-trade deal between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico were exempted from the new round of tariffs, but Trump said that previously announced 25 percent tariffs on automobile imports would start Thursday.
In response, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Canada will match Trump’s 25 percent auto tariffs with a levy on vehicles imported from the United States.
Legault said he was “very comfortable” with Carney’s retaliatory measures, adding he doesn’t support dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs that he believes could hurt Canadians more than Americans, and he said Trump “doesn’t need help” doing damage to the U.S. economy.
“We have to be prudent with our response,” Legault said. “We can’t hurt ourselves more than the Americans.”
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The Quebec premier also wants Canada to renegotiate its free-trade deal with the United States and Mexico as soon as the federal election campaign is over, to avoid piecemeal negotiations and remove uncertainty.
Carney, meanwhile, told reporters on Thursday that if he wins the April 28 election, he would sit down immediately with the president to “find areas of common ground and agreement in a new economic and security partnership.”
Legault said the trade war is an opportunity for Quebec to transform its economy, especially by building new trade ties with Europe. He said Europe wants to invest 800 billion euros on a new military procurement program.
“Of course we would like to have a part of that,” he said.
