Sask. premier says Trump tariff threat 'disastrous' for food security, energy, employment

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says if President-elect Donald Trump imposes a 25 per cent tariff on all products from Canada and Mexico it would have a disastrous effect on food security and energy across North America.

On Monday, Trump said on his social media channel Truth Social, that he would sign an executive order on his first day in office imposing the tariff on both countries until the two nations address the flow of illegal drugs and migrants crossing into the United States.

According to a senior government source, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Trump on Monday night after the news broke. Their conversation was described as “good” by the official who said the call included talks of trade and border security, with Trudeau noting that the number of migrants crossing from Canada into the U.S. is far less than those coming through Mexico.

According to the senior official, both Trudeau and Trump agreed to have more conversations on the matter in the future.

"We’re going to support the federal government in their engagement efforts, we’re going to engage as Canada’s 13 premiers through the Council of Federation table and then we’ll use contacts that we have built over the last number of years as well to engage on Saskatchewan and Canada’s behalf," Moe told CTV Morning Live Saskatchewan on Tuesday.

Moe says Saskatchewan has strong relationships with many in the administration Trump has appointed so far - a fact that gives him confidence engagement on the proposed tariff would be effective.

Prior to Trump’s announcement, Federal Minister of Agriculture Lawrence MacAulay spoke to reporters at Agribition in Regina. He reiterated the importance of those in the ag industry to highlight their concerns – adding that the feedback will be important ahead of trade talks with the incoming Trump administration.

“[Its] important that the sectors and the agricultural community work back and forth too. Because there’s nothing better for politicians than to have their own sectors indicate what an impact these things have. Particularly in the beef industry, and in many other industries, we are so intertwined and its so vitally important. For example, a cow may cross the border four or five times in its lifetime.” he explained.

“So, we intend to deal with the Trump administration as friends and ensure we continue the trade. No one wants to hurt anybody, we just want to make sure that the prosperity continues for everybody. It’s been very beneficial for the U.S and very beneficial for Canada.”

 Locally, Moe says a tariff of 25 per cent would lead to tremendous negativity from a career and employment perspective.

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“And it really doesn’t build us towards that broader goal that we have of a strong continental security situation, whether it’s food security, energy security, manufacturing security, we’re very integrated across that 49th parallel,” Moe said.

Moe also said he thinks President-elect Trump and all those in the U.S. would agree with his statement.

“There’s a conversation coming, and we very much are going to represent Saskatchewan’s interests alongside the federal government, but [also] alongside the other premiers and on our own when necessary, as well,” Moe said.

Moe is also on the side of most premiers in calling for a meeting with Trudeau as one large group.

“Certainly, I think that is absolutely necessary so that we can align and represent as a team Canada with and alongside our American counterparts.”

Moe said the goal is to build a stronger economy across North America, adding that can only be done if the three countries are unified.

“We can only do that together, we can’t do that in isolation nor can the U.S.,” he said.

• Trump vows new Canada, Mexico, China tariffs that threaten global trade

In a more detailed statement released Monday night the chairs of the resurrected Canada-U.S. relations cabinet committee, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland along with Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, said Canada, “places the highest priority on border security and the integrity of our shared border.”

The two also said that the U.S. relied on Canada for 60 per cent of its crude oil imports last year, also touting work being done to interrupt the amount of fentanyl coming to North America from China and other countries around the world.

-- With files from Rachel Aiello.