Trudeau urges internal free trade as U.S. may pose ‘long term’ issue – National | Globalnews.ca

Canada needs to look beyond the United States so it can get through a “challenging” four years under U.S. President Donald Trump – and potentially, over the longer term, too, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday.

Speaking at the opening of the Canada-U.S. business summit in Toronto, Trudeau said Canadians have a lot of “strategic reflection” to do over the coming days, “to see not just how we get through this particular challenge over the next 30 days or few months,” but “grow stronger over the next four years and into what may be a more challenging, long term political situation with the United States.”

U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to impose sweeping tariffs this week has been put on pause until March 4.

That looming threat and the volatility of his administration has many business and labour leaders urging Canada to look for alternative trading partners and ways to strengthen internal trade in order to mitigate the blow that tariffs would have on Canada’s economy and workers.

Trudeau called for an end to interprovincial trade barriers that make it hard for Canadian provinces to trade with each other.

“It’s about time we had genuine free trade within Canada,” Trudeau told the summit, which is being attended by business and labour leaders, Indigenous leaders and public policy experts.

“(There are) a lot of barriers that just don’t make sense. But it’s going to require all of us, not just governments, but business leaders as well, to step up and push hard and make sure that in this moment, we actually move forward on free trade within Canada,” he said.

The prime minister also spoke of finding international trade partnerships outside of the United States.

“We have a free trade deal with Europe that has seen, opportunities grow significantly over the past years. But can we do even more? Can we look at, diversifying our supply chains so that we do have those opportunities internationally as well?”

The federal government is hosting a summit in Toronto Friday aimed at bolstering the economy in the face of Canada’s rapidly changing relationship with its largest trading partner.

That looming threat and the volatility of his administration has many business and labour leaders urging Canada to look for alternative trading partners and ways to strengthen internal trade.

The summit is being hosted by the government’s newly created advisory council on Canada-U.S. relations, and includes business and labour leaders, Indigenous leaders and public policy experts.

Flavio Volpe, a member of the advisory council and president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association, says he hopes the meeting is just the start of something bigger.

He says Canada is facing “the most serious industrial threat we’ve ever faced” and the moment calls for a collective effort similar to what happened in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s important that this isn’t a photo op, that this isn’t a talking-to session, that this isn’t the only time we get together,” he said.

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Representatives from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Canadian Manufacturing and Exporters will attend, as will the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

Drew Dilkins, the mayor of Windsor, Ont., said this kind of meeting can help ensure different levels of government and the private sector are “rowing in the same direction.”

“Aligning on the facts is really important because what’s missing in this whole conversation, at least from my perspective on the U.S. side, is fact,” he said.

He and other border community mayors established the Border Mayors Alliance in response to the tariff threat to advocate on behalf of the cities that have the most to lose. But he said that kind of grassroots action only works if everyone understands the approach.

Dilkins took part in a meeting of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Big City Mayors Caucus in Ottawa on Thursday, where tariffs and trade with the U.S. were the only topics.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in opening remarks at the event, reiterated the need for a “Team Canada” approach.

He said the country is “doing more than just bracing ourselves, we’re convening provincial and territorial leaders to do the vital work of breaking down barriers that hamper interprovincial trade.”

That is precisely what Dennis Darby, president and CEO of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, said he wants to see in the long term.

Darby said he intends to tell the government that if tariffs are imposed, businesses and workers will need help in the form of direct government relief, tax relief or wage subsidies.

Beyond that, he said, there are “structural problems within the Canadian economy that need to be addressed.”

They include the need to make it easier to move goods between provinces — trade that is undermined by a complicated regulatory environment — and to ensure Canada takes better advantage of its trade deals with other countries.

“We’re always going to trade with the Americans, no question,” said Volpe. “Can we rely on them?”

–with files from Canadian Press

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