MNI BRIEF: Legault Still Sees US Advancing Canada Tariffs
MNI (OTTAWA) - Quebec's Premier said Monday Donald Trump will keep pushing for tariffs on Canada even as the new president declined to carry out a promise to do so on his first day, adding Trump is mistaken in saying the U.S. can get by without oil from its northern neighbor.
“He seems to be very serious about reducing or even erasing his trade deficit, so he’s serious but it doesn’t look like it will happen today,” Francois Legault told reporters.
Canada continues to examine retaliation including an export tax on oil to the U.S., Legault said. “Mr. Trump can’t replace the hundred billion dollars and more of oil that’s imported each year from Canada, especially at the price he’s paying,” Legault said. He later suggested the U.S. also badly needs some of Quebec's major exports such as electricity, aluminum and aerospace parts.
Trump's earlier suggestion of a 25% tariff “will raise prices paid by Americans by 25%,” Legault said. While the leader of Canada's main oil producing province of Alberta objects to an energy export tax, Legault said there could be compensation for regions hurt by retaliatory measures. (See: MNI INTERVIEW: Canada Already Chilled By Trump Tariff Threat)