Tariff watch: Ministers wrap up D.C. visit, Trudeau to address mayors

Three furniture ministers are wrapping up their sojourn to Washington, D.C., and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is acceptable to code the mayors of immoderate of Canada’s biggest cities arsenic Canada’s 30-day reprieve from U.S. tariffs continues.

Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, Defence Minister Bill Blair and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne are each successful Washington, wrapping up meetings with U.S. officials this week. The 3 ministers are expected to talk to the media Thursday.

A radical of mayors of the 23 largest cities successful Canada are besides gathering Thursday successful Ottawa to “discuss cardinal shared priorities amid an upcoming national election, and the impacts of a Canada-U.S. tariff war.”

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Big City Mayors’ Caucus volition clasp a property league aboriginal successful the day, aft which Trudeau volition marque remarks.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Champagne said Ottawa has been moving to easiness escaped commercialized barriers betwixt provinces arsenic unit grows to effort to mitigate the impacts of imaginable tariffs.

“I tin archer you, having spoken to a fig of premiers, the premiers are ready. The state is ready. Businesses are ready,” Champagne told reporters connected Wednesday.

Champagne said the national authorities was besides readying a “Canada First procurement policy.”

Trending Now

Transport and Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand told reporters successful Halifax connected Wednesday that Ottawa was making “fast-paced advancement with each of the provinces and territories.”

“We had an urgent gathering connected Friday of the applicable ministers. At that meeting, we reached 3 beardown recommendations,” she said.

Canada’s Committee connected Internal Trade met past week to sermon however to unfastened up commercialized betwixt Canada’s provinces. Anand said the archetypal large proposal that the committee agreed to instrumentality is communal designation of regulations crossed the country.

“That is, successful different words, respecting the rules successful spot successful different jurisdictions. So, you don’t person to comply, if you’re a trucker, with moving your lights to a somewhat antithetic determination if you transverse a provincial boundary,” she said.

“Secondly, we each agreed to trim the exceptions successful the Canadian Free Trade Act.”

Anand said the committee besides agreed to marque labour mobility crossed Canada smoother, making it easier for a nonrecreational certified successful 1 state to practise successful another.

Trudeau besides discussed the lifting of interprovincial commercialized barriers successful his gathering with Canada’s premiers.