China cannot replace US, Canada PM Carney’s conservative rival warns
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Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre outlined his vision for Canada’s relationship with the US and how his party would approach the trade war differently from the Carney government.
PHOTO: REUTERS
TORONTO – Canadian Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said China cannot serve as a substitute for the US, rebuking Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent outreach to the Asian superpower
In a speech to business leaders on Feb 26, Mr Poilievre outlined his vision for the country’s relationship with the US and how his party would approach the trade war differently from the Carney government.
“Canada’s prosperity and security are inseparable from a stable relationship with the US,” Mr Poilievre said at the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto.
“That is why we should not declare a permanent rupture with our biggest customer and closest neighbour in favour of a strategic partnership for a new world order with Beijing – a regime the Prime Minister himself said was the biggest threat to Canada just a year ago.”
The speech is Mr Poilievre’s most expansive statement to date on how Canada should navigate trade tensions with the US, at a time when polls suggest Canadians view the Carney Liberals as better equipped to manage US President Donald Trump.
Speculation that Mr Carney may call an election has intensified in recent weeks, but he has already persuaded three lawmakers from Mr Poilievre’s party to join his Liberals – a sign the Prime Minister may consolidate his hold on power without triggering a national vote.
Mr Poilievre has struggled to articulate a firm stance on Mr Trump, given that a portion of his base views the US President favourably.
The Feb 26 speech appears to mark a shift: He named Mr Trump directly and rejected claims that Canada is exploiting the US or failing to contribute to its defence, pointing to Canadian soldiers’ sacrifices in Afghanistan and other missions.
Still, he pushed back against Mr Carney’s framing of the shifting geopolitical landscape – including the Trump administration’s approach to trade and foreign policy – as a “rupture” confronting both Canada and the wider world.
While Mr Carney’s Davos speech
Mr Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s minister responsible for US trade, said on Feb 26 he was “not pessimistic” about a renewal of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
He said the process will not necessarily amount to a chapter-by-chapter renegotiation, but rather a focused assessment of the deal.
“There is a public prosecution of the political argument in the United States, and there are the private government-to-government conversations, which are not discouraging,” Mr LeBlanc said in a fireside chat at the Canadian Club Toronto, coinciding with Mr Poilievre’s address.
He also pointed out that the Trump administration exempted USMCA-compliant goods from its latest 10 per cent global tariffs.
“It’s in the American economic interest to do that,” he said.
Mr LeBlanc added that bilateral arrangements will likely accompany the USMCA renewal.
Canada still wants a deal that would ease Mr Trump’s sector-specific tariffs on steel and aluminium – and Mr LeBlanc said he is “not pessimistic that that’s impossible either”.
Auto pact
Mr Poilievre proposed a new “tariff-free auto pact” under which Canada would “agree to keep Chinese vehicles out, if Americans agree to let Canadian vehicles in”.
The Canadian government joined the US in imposing 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) in 2024, but Mr Trump later slapped tariffs on Canadian cars as well.
In January, Mr Carney agreed with Chinese President Xi Jinping to lower tariffs on 49,000 Chinese EVs annually in exchange for China relaxing duties on Canadian agricultural products.
In addition, Mr Poilievre called for a full exemption from Buy America rules and a relaunch of Keystone XL.
South Bow Corp recently said it’s considering an expansion of its pipeline system that may revive a version of the project, which was cancelled by the Biden administration.
Mr Poilievre said Canada should focus on strengthening its domestic economy by getting more resources to market, increasing home construction, bolstering military capabilities and protecting digital sovereignty.
His policy proposals include building a “strategic energy and minerals reserve” for allies who maintain tariff-free trade.
For extra leverage in US negotiations, Mr Poilievre suggested Canada’s spending on American defence equipment should be proportional to the trade treatment it receives.
On digital sovereignty, Mr Poilievre said Canada should boost the commercialisation of Canadian technologies by 50 per cent.
He would require businesses that offshore taxpayer-subsidised intellectual property to repay those government contributions.
Mr Poilievre also proposed tax incentives for venture capitalists who reinvest gains into Canadian technology, alongside a ban on foreign takeovers of sensitive intellectual property. BLOOMBERG
