Quebec holds off on retaliatory measures as Trump pauses U.S. tariff threat CBC
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump will hold off on tariffs for at least 30 days, and in response, Quebec won't take action — for now.
Premier François Legault said promising tariffs and then suddenly pausing that threat at the last minute hurts Trump's credibility. He said the incertitude has already hurt the economy.
"For now we are happy," he said. "But we have to continue planning for the worst."
He confirmed late Monday afternoon that, for now, Quebec is pausing its retaliatory measures. But the provincial government is planning various ways to hit back.
Earlier Monday, Economy Minister Christine Fréchette floated the idea of a 25 per cent price increase on all calls for tender from the U.S.
"We are going to introduce, nothing more, nothing less, the equivalent of a 25 per cent rate on these submissions," Fréchette said on Radio-Canada's radio show,
Tout un matin.
Under this new levy, "there is practically no chance for these companies to qualify," she said.
A spokesperson for Fréchette later said in an email that the move had not been finalized.
The possible levy is part of a broader attempt by the province and Canada as a whole to respond to the United States' looming 25 per cent tariffs.
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'We're going to protect ourselves,' Legault says
In response to Trump's tariffs, Canada has said it will impose 25 per cent tariffs on $155 billion worth of American goods.
Legault said he and other premiers unanimously support these retaliatory measures, adding that Canada's counter-tariffs would "benefit our companies by 25 per cent."
"We're going to protect ourselves and we're going to fight Mr. Trump," he said.
More than 100,000 jobs will be lost in the province due to the tariffs, according to the premier.
"We have to stand up, we have to fight to protect our economy, to protect our jobs," he told reporters Saturday night.
Earlier, the Quebec government asked the province's liquor board, the
Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ), to remove all American products from its shelves starting Tuesday. But Legault has since said that also will be paused.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said in a statement she was also exploring options, including imposing a 25 per cent levy similar to Quebec's on calls for tender on city contracts.
"We will be working hand in hand with senior governments and our economic partners in the coming days to respond with strength and determination to this unjustified attack on our economy," Plante said.
Legault said the majority of Quebec's exports go to the U.S., but the province clearly needs to be more diverse with its exports to become less dependant on the U.S. and "we will work on that in the next 30 days," he said Monday.
"We have to be ready for all kinds of scenarios with this guy," he said, referring to Trump.
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