Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadian officials are continuing their work to demonstrate that Canada is taking enough action on border security and fentanyl trafficking, which have been the impetus behind the U.S. president’s looming tariffs.
“We’re working day and night with one single goal as to avoid having these tariffs on next Tuesday,” Trudeau told reporters in French on Feb. 27.
“The president is worried about fentanyl, and in that area, as you know, we have ministers in Washington today to present the facts on the ground,” he added. Public Safety Minister David McGuinty is in Washington this week to discuss border security with American officials.
U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to impose blanket 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico on March 4, saying the two countries have not taken enough action on border security.
While U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had said on Feb. 26 that Canada and Mexico could avoid the tariffs if they proved to the U.S. administration they had done enough on border security, Trump said a day later that the tariffs would be imposed due to “unacceptable” levels of fentanyl coming into the United States from the two countries.
Trump was initially set to impose the tariffs on Feb. 4, but Canada and Mexico secured 30-day pauses following phone calls with him on Feb. 3. During the phone calls, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum promised to deploy 10,000 National Guard soldiers to the border, while Trudeau promised to appoint a “fentanyl czar,” designate drug cartels as terrorist organizations, and commit $200 million for intelligence operations to combat fentanyl, on top of the previously committed $1.3 billion to boost border security.
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Trudeau told reporters that he has been emphasizing to Trump that less than 1 percent of the fentanyl that has arrived in the United States comes from Canada, but “even 1 percent or less than 1 percent should be reduced.” He highlighted Ottawa’s $1.3 billion border package introduced in December, which includes funding for more Black Hawk helicopters and drones.
The prime minister said if the tariffs are imposed on Canada, the country will respond with “immediate and extremely strong” tariffs on $30 billion of goods imported from the United States, as well as more tariffs on $125 billion of goods 21 days later.
“We don’t want to have to have a commercial trade war between our two countries, and we’ll do everything we can to avoid the imposition of these tariffs by the U.S.,” he added.
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During the press conference, Trudeau was also asked about reporting by The Telegraph based on an anonymous source that White House official Peter Navarro had pushed for a redrawing of the Canada–U.S. border during negotiations. Navarro was subject of another report earlier this week that cited an anonymous source, which Navarro said has no basis in truth, and said is a “product of a culture in the media where they report stories and never name their sources.”
Trudeau responded that he had not seen the report, but that he was not sure “what negotiators we’re talking about here” since there are “no negotiations going on with the American government on any topic at all right now, or any important topic.”
“I can tell you that we all heard Donald Trump talk about creating a 51st state. That’s something that will never happen. Canadians will never accept such a thing, but we should take it seriously nonetheless,” he said.
Reporting from The Financial Times on Feb. 25 had also suggested that Navarro called for Canada to be kicked out of the Five Eyes intelligence group. Navarro responded to the report on Feb. 25 by saying they would “never, ever jeopardize our national security, ever, with allies like Canada,” and he criticized reports that include accounts from anonymous sources.
Trudeau said the partnership between Canada, the United States, the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand has benefitted all the countries, and Canada has contributed to it by having “one of the best cyber security centres in the world.”
“The adviser in question [Navarro] publicly explained that that was not on the table. And it is totally understandable that it not be on the table, because Canadians and Americans and our allies around the world have been working extraordinarily well together to keep our citizens safe,” Trudeau added.
Trudeau was also asked about NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s suggestion on Feb. 26 that Trump should be uninvited from the upcoming G7 meeting in Alberta in June, due to Trump being “someone who threatens our sovereignty” and a “convicted criminal.”
“It’s become too easy for politicians these days to toss out easy and shocking things to say. We see a lot of it around the world these days,” Trudeau said. “I’m not one of those Canadian politicians that thinks that’s a responsible way to lead a country or even carry an important political dialogue.”
