As looming tariffs inch closer, Canada’s premiers are calling a last-minute meeting with officials from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration “constructive.” The premiers, who were already in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to push back against Trump’s tariffs, secured an eleventh-hour meeting with one of the president’s deputy chiefs of staff, James Blair, and Sergio Gor, the director of the White House presidential personnel office. “We had a very constructive conversation. We appreciate the Trump administration facilitating this literally in the last minute, and we’re grateful we listened, we communicated, and we look forward to further conversations,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said moments after the meeting. Asked by reporters whether the premiers were given any sense on how Canada can avoid tariffs, Ford would not answer directly. “We’ll see how we move forward, and once all their secretaries get sworn in, then we can move forward,” Ford said. On Monday, Trump signed executive orders to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States, including Canadian products, starting March 12. But a White House official has said on background that that tariff would be stacked on top of other levies on Canadian goods, equalling to a 50 per cent total tariff on steel and aluminum. Trump previously threatened 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, with a lower 10 per cent tariff on Canadian energy, which have been pushed back until at least March 4. Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai spoke to CTV’s Power Play after the meeting and said Canadian officials need to “have realistic expectations.” “We’re never going to be walking out of a meeting like this, in one meeting, with a commitment that there’s no tariffs,” Pillai told host Mike Le Couteur. “I think it’s important to have a consistent conversation happening as much as we can with individuals that are within the sphere of influence.” Pillai also pointed to potential proposals Canada can put forward, including NORAD enhancements, to negotiate with the Trump administration. “Trump’s going to want to be having the biggest piece of the pie, but you better figure out how to figure a way to put new pies on the table,” Pillai said. “I think that’s really the mindset that we have to have in the country if we’re going to be successful going into the next couple of months.” On top of his tariff threat, Trump has repeatedly pushed his call for Canada to become the 51st state. B.C. Premier David Eby said the ongoing annexation threat was addressed during the meeting. “We had frank conversations about the 51st state comment where we underlined that that was a non-starter. That was obviously consistent among all the premiers,” Eby said. But in a post to X, Trump’s deputy chief of staff James Blair wrote, “To be clear, we never agreed that Canada would not be the 51st state. We only agreed to share Premier Eby’s comments.” Blair also said he told the premiers that “the best way to understand President Trump’s position is to take what he says at face value.” Finance minister has ‘very constructive’ talk with Trump commerce secretaryFinance Minister Dominic LeBlanc was in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick at the White House. Canada’s Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman was also in attendance. Speaking to reporters following the 90-minute meeting, LeBlanc called the conversation “very constructive and positive.” Last week, Trump announced a month-long pause on a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods – until at least March 4 – after the federal government made additions to its previously announced $1.3 billion border plan in a bid to address the U.S. president’s ongoing concerns around illegal migration and drug trafficking. Those additions included the appointment of a fentanyl czar, who will be in Washington “in a few days,” according to the finance minister. “I think we have a clear understanding in terms of the March 4 deadline, the conversations of last week around fentanyl and border integrity,” LeBlanc said, adding that he reiterated to Lutnick that “work is ongoing and is expedited.” In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump called Canada’s border plan “not good enough,” adding that “it’s not sustainable.” LeBlanc also said he raised Canada’s concerns over the upcoming tariffs on steel and aluminum products. “It’s important to our economy, but it’s also essential to their economy as well,” LeBlanc said. “But we had a rather detailed conversation about those sectors, which I thought gave us an understanding of their concerns.” There are questions, meanwhile, about whether Trump wants to push for an early renegotiation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which is due for review next year. On his first day in office on Jan. 20, Trump announced his “America First Trade Policy” in an executive order, calling for a study into trade practices due April 1. In recent weeks, both Trump and Lutnick have publicly raised concerns about access to the Canadian dairy market, while other U.S. officials have criticized Canada’s digital services tax. Asked about that study due April 1, LeBlanc said Canada will continue to work with the Trump administration on the review. “We now have, I think, a good understanding of their process markers over the next number of weeks, and they were very clear that Canada very much has their attention, and they want to work with us to structure an economic deal that’s in the interest of both countries.” Speaking to reporters about CUSMA, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey said Canada should not “be willing to concede anything.” “These are negotiations that have to happen at the appropriate tables, but discussing this in public, revealing our strategy in public, will only weaken the Canadian position,” Furey said. Despite the escalating trade dispute between Canada and the U.S., Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday he currently has no trip on the books to meet with Trump. The prime minister said that while he and Trump have “had many different conversations over the past many, many months,” and that his government will “continue to engage at all levels,” with the U.S. administration, he does not personally have plans to go to Washington.
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