Trump’s pick for commerce says tariff threat could be just the start
WASHINGTON — The man U.S. President Donald Trump has chosen to oversee his tariff agenda says hitting Canada with 25 per cent across-the-board duties would be an emergency measure to achieve border security — and could be followed by more tariffs in the future.
During Wednesday’s Senate hearing on his nomination to lead the U.S. Department of Commerce, billionaire financier Howard Lutnick said the plan to impose duties on Canada and Mexico is distinct from Trump’s long-term tariff plans.
He said the threatened 25 per cent tariff is not a “tariff per se” but a type of domestic policy meant to force America’s neighbours to take action at the borders.
“You know that the labs in Canada are run by Mexican cartels. This tariff model is simply to shut their borders … Respect America,” Lutnick said Wednesday. “If we are your biggest trading partner, show us the respect. Shut your border and end fentanyl coming into this country.”
The number of people and drugs crossing illegally into the United States from Canada is minuscule compared to the volume crossing the United States’ southern border, a point Canadian Public Safety Minister David McGuinty made repeatedly in a news conference in Ottawa following Lutnick’s remarks.
Ottawa responded to Trump’s initial threat with a $1.3-billion border security plan and some provinces have separately boosted border enforcement. But the president has since expanded his complaints about Canada far beyond border security.
Lutnick said he believes Canada and Mexico are “acting swiftly” on border security “and if they execute it, there will be no tariff and if they don’t, then there will be.”
The White House press secretary said Tuesday that Trump was still considering implementing the tariffs on
Read more on financialpost.com
