Mark Carney touts power plants as U.S. trade threat looms

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OTTAWA — He would proudly boast of Canada’s new $10-billion energy-sharing agreement between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.

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That’s what Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would tell U.S. President Donald Trump if the pair spoke ahead of this week’s looming 50% tariff threats against Canada, in comments to reporters Monday in St. John’s, N.L.

“I say that in all seriousness,” Carney said during the noon-hour news conference.

“The scale of what this is, in terms of the 14,000 megawatts of clean power, the 23,000-plus jobs in the construction phase alone of the power, but also in opening up the Labrador Trough, the enormous resources in critical minerals and iron ore, (and) the extra 16,000 jobs in the construction phase of that (project.)”

Multi-billion dollar energy-sharing agreements between east-coast Canadian provinces, however, are conspicuously absent from the list of trade irritants fuelling Trump’s threats to impose potentially-crippling tariffs on numerous vital Canadian industries — levies that Trump says will apply to goods that are already CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico free trade agreement) compliant.

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Carney, recently arriving home to Canada after a controversial vacation in Tuscany while trade talks intensified, refused to answer when the reporter — in a follow-up question — asked what a good deal would look like to Canada.

“The most important thing happening in Canada this week is today’s announcement,” Carney said.

Booze, dairy, cars main sticking points of tariff threats

Indeed, provincial sales of American alcohol — and not federal funding for power plants in Labrador — remain the key sticking points in ongoing high-level talks between Canada and the U.S.

“Canada has unfairly discriminated against American autos, alcohol and dairy products,” U.S. President Donald Trump said in July upon his announcement of the 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods.

The tariffs are set to come into force at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, impacting nearly $30 billion in Canadian goods ranging from beer, wine and spirits to lumber, paper, pulp and building supplies.

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Over the weekend, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Chief Negotiator Janice Charette held virtual sessions with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, discussions that LeBlanc’s office characterized as “constructive” as negotiators continue to hammer out a deal.

Monday saw hopes of deal become even less optimistic, as talks between both nations appear to have stalled.

Confidence in Carney’s deal-making crumbling

In July, numbers released by Angus Reid suggest Canadians aren’t confident Carney can reach an equitable deal with the Trump White House, with just 43% of those polled saying they’re confident a deal can be struck.

In the same poll, 62% of Canadians wants Ottawa to hit back with counter tariffs, and 34% saying Canada needs to match Trump’s tariffs dollar-for-dollar.

Forty-eight per cent said Canada should not resume selling American alcohol, and 16% oppose ending Canada’s supply management in our country’s dairy industry.

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume

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