
Joly won’t say if Liberals are open to renegotiating free trade deal over Trump’s tariff threats
The foreign minister is set to travel to Washington to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday
OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Monday the federal government is preparing for the 2026 review of the free trade agreement between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, but is staying mum on whether Canada is willing to open that deal up any earlier, as a way to mitigate U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs.
Joly is set to travel to Washington to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday, just days before the Feb. 1 date that Trump mused as his latest deadline for imposing a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods, which he has been warning about since shortly after his election win last November.
Article content
Citing concerns about people crossing into the U.S. illegally from Canada, as well the flow of the deadly drug fentanyl from the Canada-U.S boundary, Trump’s threatening of tariffs has consumed Canadian business and political leaders, who have been making their case directly to Trump’s administration and across American airwaves that imposing such stiff levies would be bad for both countries’ economies.
The government has also said the Canada-U.S. boundary is not the problem when it comes to Trump’s immigration and drug concerns.
Speaking to reporters on Monday after members of Trudeau’s cabinet met to discuss the situation with the U.S., Joly said Trump is using tariffs “as a way to put pressure on countries,” adding she expects him to continue to do so.
Trump recently did so when he encountered issues with Colombia accepting flights of migrants who had been deported from the U.S.
The Canadian government’s first priority is to prevent any tariffs, Joly said, adding she has been in contact with her counterparts in Mexico and Europe.