Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said he’s not focused on discussing retaliation for U.S. tariffs as he visits Washington, D.C., but rather on working on the “economic deal” sought by the U.S. administration.
“What the Americans have said to us privately, and what they’ve said publicly, is that we have a number of weeks to work together,” LeBlanc told reporters on Feb. 12. “And President Trump’s words were very precise; to structure an economic deal with Canada.”
While U.S. President Donald Trump has planned to impose 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian imports on Feb. 4, he agreed to pause tariffs until March 4 to allow the two countries work out a “final economic deal.”
Trump made the decision following a phone call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, where Canada promised to beef up border security, including appointment of a “fentanyl czar,” listing Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations, and implementing a $200 million intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl, on top of a previous $1.3 billion border package.
LeBlanc said Ottawa was not looking to “go ahead of” the U.S. on tariffs by imposing them pre-emptively. “Our focus is on avoiding the tariffs and strengthening the economic partnership, so that wouldn’t be particularly constructive as an approach,” he said.
When asked by reporters if he believed Trump’s focus on imposing tariffs on Canada was due to his personal dislike of Trudeau, LeBlanc said he is “not a psychologist or a psychiatrist.” The finance minister said Ottawa is focusing the next few weeks on highlighting the importance of the Canada-U.S. trade relationship, and is “not spending our time imagining the motivations of anybody.”
While in Washington D.C., LeBlanc met with Trump’s pick for U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and economic adviser Kevin Hassett.
Following his meeting with Lutnick, LeBlanc said that Canada has the “attention” of the United States, and that they want to “work with us to structure an economic deal that’s in the interest of both countries.” He also said the two sides had a “rather detailed conversation” about the steel and aluminum sectors of Canada and the United States.
LeBlanc said while the threats of 25 percent tariffs are not “pushed off the table completely,” the two sides had made “good progress” on national security issues and the fight against fentanyl. “I’m reassured, but the work isn’t done,” he said.
Canada’s Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman said Trump is using the threat of tariffs as both a negotiating tactic, as well as a way to raise revenues for the U.S. government.
“Our job is to demonstrate, in as much granularity as possible across all regions of this country, what the [trade] relationship with the United States means for Americans, what benefits they get from it,” she said.
