‘Very serious conversation’: Moe says Trump’s tariffs would have huge impact

A possible 25 per cent tariff on all goods coming from Canada to the U.S. had lawmakers scrambling on Tuesday.

Premier Scott Moe said such a tariff would have a huge impact on Saskatchewan, explaining that 60 per cent of the province’s exports go to the U.S.

“This is a very serious conversation and I would expect it’s one that’s going to dominate a lot of government’s time in the next number of weeks and months,” said Moe, speaking on the Evan Bray Show.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump posted to his social media on Monday night, saying he would sign an executive order once he takes over, to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all products brought into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico. He wrote the tariff would stay in place until Canada and Mexico stop drugs – particularly fentanyl – and people from illegally crossing the borders.

Listen to Evan Bray’s full interview with Premier Scott Moe:

On Tuesday morning, Moe said his government is actively pursuing three points of engagement to respond to the possible tariffs. The first included working with the federal government and the outreach it’s been doing.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he’d had a call with Trump on Monday night to talk about the connections between the two countries. Trudeau is also reportedly planning to call a meeting with the country’s premiers to respond to the tariff threat.

Moe said his government is also working with the Council of the Federation, the group of Canada’s premiers.

“We are already looking at how we can engage with the contacts we collectively have at that table,” said Moe.

The council sent a letter asking Trudeau for a meeting to discuss Canada-U.S. relations earlier this week.

The premier said the province is also reaching out to its own contacts to talk about this possibility, particularly mentioning Doug Burgum, who was named to head Trump’s national energy security council and was previously the Governor of North Dakota for a number of years.

Moe said there might be a call set up to talk about the issue later on Tuesday.

While Moe said the proposed tariffs would harm Saskatchewan’s economy and “drive up prices on both sides of the border,” the premier also noted that increased border security would benefit both nations.

“As Canadians, we can all benefit from additional border security stopping the flow of illegal drugs and migrants across our borders,” Moe wrote on Tuesday in a post shared to social media.