‘Simply counterproductive’: Moe opposes broad retaliatory tariffs

Nearly all of the provincial leaders came out of the first ministers’ meeting Wednesday touting a unified approach, and while Premier Scott Moe agreed, he’s also repeating that broad-based, retaliatory tariffs would be bad for everyone.

All the country’s premiers, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a handful of federal ministers met on Wednesday in Ottawa to discuss relations with the U.S.A. and President-Elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian products.

In an interview on The Evan Bray Show on Thursday morning, Moe said the meeting went relatively well, despite a few points of disagreement. He said the leaders have been operating as though the tariffs threatened by incoming Trump could or would happen.

Listen to the full interview with Moe here:

Moe said the main goal is to stop that from happening, saying the Canadian leaders should be operating as though Trump’s inauguration on Monday is the start of the conversation, not the end.

If tariffs are implemented, Moe said the next goal would be to get them removed as soon as possible, which could mean retaliation. “Walk softly, but carry a big list,” Moe said, paraphrasing former Premier Brad Wall,

“That list is a list of retaliatory tariffs that are designed, maybe not for maximum broad-based economic impact, but designed very specifically to impact decision-makers in the U.S.,” explained Moe.

The premier said he’s opposing broad-based tariffs, which he said would be bad for all Canadians and Americans. He said he would be against export tariffs as well.

“That is not where we are in the conversation, not should we ever be at that part of the conversation,” said Moe.

The Saskatchewan premier hasn’t been shy about voicing his disagreements with Trudeau’s government in the past, and he said while he doesn’t necessarily have confidence in the policies made by the federal government, he was happy with the results of the meeting.

“I do have a certain degree of confidence that everyone around that table understands the impact that that would have on national unity,” said Moe.

“If you were to put an export tariff on any product, taxing any product that Canadians produce is just simply counterproductive to this whole conversation. We want the removal of all tariffs, not adding some of our own.”

Moe said tariffs on oil and gas would hurt Alberta and Saskatchewan in the same way tariffs on auto parts and manufactured goods would hurt Ontario and Quebec.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in an online post that Alberta won’t be able to support Ottawa’s plan unless restrictions on energy exports to the U.S. are off the table.

Moe said he understands why Smith made that choice.

“I had considered something similar, however the broader goal here right now is for us to de-escalate this conversation, not escalate it,” he said.