Provinces, Ottawa in tangle over U.S. tariffs

The Ontario government is sending mixed signals over whether the province wants Ottawa to surrender in the trade war with the United States that is hurting steel and aluminum industries in Canada.

“We want tariffs removed on both sides of the border when it comes to steel and aluminum,” Economic Development and Trade Minister Todd Smith said Monday. He sent Ottawa a joint letter with Pierre Fitzgibbon, Quebec’s Minister of Economy and Innovation.

But Fitzgibbon’s office later said Ontario’s stance appears to differ from Quebec, which is not calling for an immediate end to the levies without any concessions stateside.

Smith’s office was then forced to clarify that in fact Ontario is “asking them to review the counter tariffs, such as those on playing cards, bourbon and matchsticks, etc., in an effort to persuade the newly elected U.S. Congress ... to remove the steel and aluminum tariffs.”

Canada retaliated with “dollar-for-dollar” tariffs of its own against American industry. Ottawa noted that money collected from the levies has been flowing to companies in Ontario.

Federal Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains said there are no plans to capitulate.

“The Ford government’s call for Canada to unilaterally and unconditionally remove its counter-tariffs would equal unilateral surrender to the Americans,” said Bains.