Die kanadische 'Antwort' - falls jemand wirklich alle Details haben will - Anthony Housefather (MP)

 The Aftermath of President Trump’s Inauguration and Tariff Threats

 

The inauguration of Donald Trump happened on January 20, 2025. Almost immediately the President signed a significant number of executive orders. One of them orders officials to review all US trade relationships for unfair practices, including those with Canada, Mexico and China. The officials are ordered to report back by April 1, 2025.

However, that evening President Trump signaled that he still probably planned to proceed with 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico around February 1^st. The President has made various claims about why he proposed to levy tariffs. 

 

The first revolved around “millions of illegal migrants crossing the border from Canada.”  This claim is false. Less than 1% of migrants crossing into the US illegally do some from the Canadian border and these illegal crossings, as we know go in both directions.  

The second revolved around the fentanyl supply crossing the border into the US from Canada. As the Associated Press states this claim is also false:

“The U.S. president told reporters at the White House that, in his opinion, the amount of fentanyl coming through Canada and Mexico is “massive.”

U.S. customs agents seized just 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border.” 

About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada. Despite Trump’s claim that the U.S doesn’t need Canada, nearly a quarter of the oil America consumes per day comes from Canada. America’s northern neighbor also has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S.

Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian dollars ($2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states.”

What is needed is clearly a strong Team Canada response and I was very pleased to see the federal government and nine of the ten provinces (including Quebec and Ontario) agree on a clear response. Tariffs would be terrible for the Canadian economy and Canadians but would also spark  a Canadian response which will be terrible for the American economy and Americans. Tariffs will force prices up in both countries. But should tariffs proceed, a dollar for dollar response is absolutely necessary. To understand the situation if a Canadian company is paying tariffs and prices on its product goes up in the United States but American companies shipping to Canada have no tariff, why would everyone not move their manufacturing to the United States?  In order to protect Canadian businesses and jobs a response is required and the pain felt by US consumers and the backlash will be what may force the Trump administration to back off.

For the moment, the goal is to prevent this from happening at all. Canadian politicians are all contacting our US counterparts in the administration, in the legislative branch and in business and labour to push for Americans to tell the Trump administration not to proceed. 

We also need to work with other countries around the world who are equally threatened by potential actions by the US administration. We need to become more self reliant and diversify our trade (which we are well set up to do by all the trade agreements our government has signed over the last nine years).

We are taking a significant number of actions. In the last week we:

• Announced the Council on Canada-U.S. Relations – A Team Canada effort with leaders from business, policy, and public service.
• Shared Canada’s Border Plan – with a $1.3 billion investment in new technology, resources, and security personnel.
• Highlighted the mutually beneficial relationship that Canada shares with the U.S. – a partnership that creates jobs, wealth, and opportunity on both sides of the border.
•  

Strengthening our Borders

 

Our government has a $1.3 billion plan to strengthen the integrity of our border, this is what we have done:

 

1. Put an end to flagpoling - the practice used by some to skirt immigration processes by exiting and re-entering Canada. This means shorter lines at Ports of Entry (POEs) and more officers focused on enforcing the border. 
2. Deployed 60 new drones along our border with the U.S. 
3. Improved the capacity of intelligence sharing with American counterparts by enacting the High Risk Child Sex Offender Database Act, which will establishes a publicly accessible database of high-risk offenders convicted of sexual offences against children. 
4. Announced the launching of the first Canadian land preclearance operation in the US, ensuring security threats are intercepted early while streamlining the flow of legitimate travel between Canada and the US. 
5. Reduced the cost burden of removing inadmissible people from Canada by increasing the funds recovered from those individuals. 
6. Aligned hours of service between many Canadian and American POEs, allowing for smoother enforcement.  
7. Completed border security exercises with all provinces, territories, and Indigenous communities. 
8. Introduced an additional protocol to the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), in partnership with the United-States (U.S.), to expand the application of the STCA to the entire land border, including internal waterways. 
9. Implemented a partial visa requirement for Mexican nationals to reduce the high number of asylum claims, most of which were refused, withdrawn or abandoned. 
10. Heightened scrutiny of visitor visa applications from countries with the highest rates of abuse, based on a new system of fraud detection. 
11. Removed the additional points that candidates receive under Express Entry for having a job offer. 
12. Implemented reforms to the International Student Program and launched a system to verify every letter of acceptance directly with post-secondary learning institutions for each study permit application. 
13. Proposed new regulations to address misconduct by paid representatives and strengthen the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. 
14. Launched two annual international ad campaigns delivered in over 10 languages to combat misinformation: one to address misinformation about the international study permits and application process and another targeting people seeking information on Canada’s asylum system.  

 

 Canada's border is strong, and we are making it even stronger with Canada's Border Plan. 

 

Energy Trade with the US

 

The Canada-U.S. energy and mining relationship is fundamental to North America’s energy security and economy. Together, we can improve security, minimize Chinese influence, and create good jobs. Canadian electricity exports power nearly 6 million U.S. homes, our potash supplies the agricultural sector and ensures American food security, and Canadian uranium that generates enough electricity to power 18 million U.S. homes.

 

Canada and the U.S. are each other’s #1 foreign supplier of all forms of energy. This protects us from other countries’ efforts to manipulate markets and dominate supply chains, and Canada has helped displace U.S. dependence on unfriendly oil from Venezuela and Russia.

• For example, Canadian crude flows by pipeline into American refineries specifically configured for heavy oil and is used in many American industries, contributing to the high quality of life, affordability, and energy security that Americans rightfully expect.
• Similarly, minerals that Americans need for the military and affordable food can be found in Canada – and the other options are places like China and Russia, countries I know Americans do not want to hitch their cart to. 

 

China currently controls the vast majority of the world’s critical mineral supply chains, which have key uses for energy and defence applications… but Canada has the reserves of many of these minerals too and can be a reliable and stable supplier. As the US embarks on the journey of decoupling their economy from China, Canada can be a partner. 

 

Any U.S. tariffs imposed on imports of energy or resources will make American lives more expensive. In fact, a 25% tariff on Canada would cost the U.S. over $100b, and would raise costs for U.S. households by over $1,800 CAD ($1,300 USD) annually.

• Cost of over $830m for U.S. farmers which will lead to higher food prices.
• Higher gas prices, especially in the Great Lakes, Midwest, Rockies, and Gulf Coast, where prices at the pump could jump by up to 75 cents per gallon.
• 25% tariffs on oil and gas alone will cost US companies nearly $30 billion USD.

 

There is zero doubt that North America can and should be the biggest energy superpower in the world. Between our two countries, we are blessed with the resources to be secure from threats and have the world’s most powerful economy – and it’s our job to work with President-elect Trump’s administration to make sure that’s what happens.

 

Oil and gas

• Introducing tariffs on imports, including crude oil, would not be a good move for the United States, especially an administration who has made clear energy security and cheaper bills are priorities.
• Canadian energy and resources are cost-effectively helping to supply American industries, keep lights on, heat American homes, and fuel their transportation needs. The U.S. also makes large profits based on Canadian energy imports.
• Any U.S. tariffs imposed on imports of oil, gas, electricity, or electricity simply make American’s lives more expensive. 
• As the U.S. is our most important trading partner, we are committed to ensuring that our trade relations remain strong and productive. At the same time, we will always do everything we can to fight for Canadian workers, industry and their interests no matter where in the world they lie. 

 

Critical minerals

• Canada is blessed with significant critical mineral deposits. These not only help us with defence and technology, but give us the opportunity to build much more secure, reliable supply chains in the face of Chinese dominance.
• Canada produces over 60 minerals and metals, including 19 of the 50 minerals listed as critical by the US government, and minerals China has banned for sale in the US, like germanium.
• Any disruption in critical mineral trade flow between Canada and the U.S. would lead to a greater American dependence on other countries like China. Not only that, 25% tariffs on minerals and metals would cost the US over $5billion.
  • China presently controls an outsized role on critical minerals. 
    • For example, China controls 70% of the world’s graphite production, and 100% of processing capacity. Graphite is a key component for electric vehicles and other clean technologies. 
• We have been cooperating with the US Dept of Defence to jointly fund mining projects that will shore up these secure supply chains, and provide jobs at the same time.
  • The American defense sector is one of the largest beneficiaries of Canada’s critical mineral wealth and processing capacities.
  • Canada currently produces and/or refines 10 out of 12 defence-critical raw materials identified by NATO.

 

I hope reading this convinced you that a trade war initiated by the Trump administration is in nobody’s best interests and I hope we can convince the new administration of that as well. 

 

Best,

Anthony