‘If they hit us, we must hit back’: Freeland plans dollar-for-dollar retaliation to U.S. tariffs if elected Liberal Leader

Liberal Leadership Candidate Chrystia Freeland speaks with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins about her bid to lead the party.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michael Higgins: The focus in the here and now is the tariff front. Under your leadership, you’ve said Canada will hit back. So how hard and how would Alberta Oil factor into a trade war equation?

Chrystia Freeland: You are absolutely right. The way that Canada has to deal with this is to be united, strong and smart. If they hit us, we must hit back.

My approach as prime minister would be dollar-for-dollar retaliation and our retaliation would be really effective. We need to take a surgical, targeted approach to get maximum bang for our buck. For example, I would impose a 100 per cent tariff on Teslas, I think that would get the attention of the first buddy.

The reason that we retaliate is to activate U.S. stakeholders. We need people calling up President Trump and saying, as the Wall Street Journal has said, this tariff war with Canada is the dumbest idea ever. It is costing us jobs, we are losing business. That’s how we win.

I led the charge last time President Trump actually imposed tariffs on us. In 2018, I led a strong dollar-for-dollar retaliation and after a few months he caved in and the U.S. unilaterally dropped those tariffs, because Canada has leverage and if we use that leverage we will succeed.

MH: What do you consider the tariffs threat to really be about this time around?

CF: I think President Trump believes in getting everything he can and I think he is a guy who likes to probe for weakness. That is what he is doing right now and that is why I am so certain that with him weakness is a provocation. That’s why I think we have to really put forward a strong united front. I’m so proud of the way that Canadians intuitively, spontaneously and unanimously across the country really get that too.

What we really need to recognize is we have real leverage. The fact is that Canada is the largest export market for the U.S. by far. We are larger than China, Japan, the U.K. and France combined. So think about what that means. It means that a single Canadian Prime Minister, standing by herself, has more leverage over the United States than the leaders of China, Japan, the U.K. and France combined. That leverage works, and that is why I’m certain that we can succeed at the same time.

We have to offer the Americans an exit ramp, a graceful way out, and we have to always be saying to them and saying this directly to the American people, so many of whom are our friends, neighbours, even family, we need to say to them, ‘This is a self-mutilating act of your own government. It is utterly unnecessary. The relationship we have is balanced and mutually beneficial. Let’s get back to that.’

MH: That uncomfortable photo op in the Oval Office with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It gave the world a front row seat to how this Trump administration operates and where its priorities lie. How does that inform your thoughts and considerations as potential PM, where threats to Canadian sovereignty are concerned?

CF: I would describe that as far worse than uncomfortable. The treatment of President Zelenskyy, who is Ukraine’s democratically elected leader, who is a hero, was shameful and appalling. It was shameful and appalling to hear Vladimir Putin’s talking points parroted in the Oval Office.

I want to start by being really, really clear: Ukraine is a democracy, Russia is a dictatorship. Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is illegal, it is criminal. Ukrainians today are bravely fighting for their democracy and their sovereignty, and in doing so, they’re fighting for us too. Democracy is at stake here, and so is the rules-based international order. So is the idea that we have rules.

It’s not might makes right. It’s not a case where just because you’re bigger than your neighbour and have a bigger army, you’re allowed to invade them and take over their territory. The fact is, President Trump has clearly and repeatedly said he wants to use economic coercion to make us the 51st state. We cannot and must not treat that as a joke. That’s why I would boost defense spending to 2 per cent by 2027, and that is why as prime minister, I would urgently strengthen our security partnerships with our European NATO allies, including the nuclear powers in Europe, France and the U.K. We need to work urgently to secure our Arctic, our partners will help us, and we need to be a leader of the effort of democracies to fight for Ukraine.

I want to say something really moving, that a man called Amarjeet, a hospital porter, said to me when I was in Edmonton over the weekend. I chatted with him afterwards and he said that I had said it was appalling to see the former leader of the free world behave the way that the U.S. president did in the Oval Office. Amarjeet said to me, ‘You know what? Now Canada needs to be the leader of the free world.’

If we step up, if we are united, strong and smart, if we fight for ourselves successfully, which I know we can and we will, the world is going to rally to join us.

MH: Many of us here know about your roots in this province, but by the same token, you’ve also been a key decision maker in a federal government deploying policy that many here consider anti-Albertan. How would you move past that and repair the relationship?

CF: Thank you for mentioning my Alberta roots. I am a proud daughter of Alberta. I grew up in Peace River and in Edmonton, and I love Alberta so much.

As leader of the Liberal Party, and as Canada’s prime minister, Alberta would be a priority for me. I would fight for Alberta because Canada needs a strong Alberta. I am proud of many of the things that I personally got across the line for Alberta, starting with the Trans Mountain pipeline.

I was the finance minister who got that pipeline built, that is delivering huge benefits to the Alberta economy and to the Canadian economy. And right now, that pipeline is enhancing our national security.

We need alternatives to the U.S. The TMX pipeline, which brilliant Alberta engineers, brilliant Alberta skilled trades people got built, is a huge accomplishment. I was so proud as finance minister to get it finished. It’s good for Alberta, it’s good for Canada, and I was very proud to mention that pipeline, that accomplishment, the golden weld that got it finished, in my budget speech in the spring.