Canada shouldn’t settle for sectoral tariffs: Poilievre

Part one of Poilievre’s conversation on Question Period includes a discussion about trade, including Trump’s ever-changing tariff policies.

Amid a protracted trade war with the United States, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Canada shouldn’t settle for a deal that includes sectoral tariffs.

“I would seek a tariff-free deal,” Poilievre told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday, when asked whether he would accept a deal from the Americans that includes a base level of tariffs on sectors like steel, aluminum and autos.

“We used to have that privileged access to the American economy, and in exchange for that, we could provide more continental security that would make both our countries more secure and stable,” Poilievre added. “That’s the deal that I would go for.”

U.S. President Donald Trump launched the trade war in February, when he implemented sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods. He’s since carved out an exemption for imports that are compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

But he’s also set out to fully transform America’s global trade regime, imposing significant sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos and copper. Those levies are stacked on top of any import taxes aimed at specific countries, such as Canada.

Canada and the U.S. have been in ongoing negotiations for a new economic and security deal for months, with Prime Minister Mark Carney and his team insisting they’re prioritizing getting the “best deal” over a timely one.

Late last month, Carney announced that Canada is dropping many of its counter-tariffs by exempting goods covered by CUSMA. Asked by reporters at the time whether Trump had assured him the move would help spur negotiations, the prime minister said “yes.”

“I think that the key back home, though, is to become more self-reliant, strong and stand on our own two feet, so that we have the leverage to negotiate,” Poilievre told Kapelos, blaming Liberal environmental policies for Canada’s over-dependence on the U.S., and adding Prime Minister Carney has “unfortunately negotiated out of a position of weakness.”

Poilievre pointed to what he’s called “anti-development Liberal policies,” such as the oil and gas sector emissions cap, the industrial carbon tax, and Bill C-69, the Impact Assessment Act, which many Conservatives have dubbed the “no more pipelines act.”

“If we were building pipelines and port expansions and moving our resources to the Pacific and the Atlantic to faraway markets, then we could go to the Americans with the ability to say we have other options,” Poilievre said.

When pressed, however, on the mercurial nature of the U.S. president and whether it’s fair to blame the Liberal government for the state of negotiations, when Trump’s expressed purpose is to target investment, Poilievre said Canadians should “hold Mr. Carney to the standard he set for himself.”

“He said he’d have a deal with Trump by July 21, (and) still no deal,” Poilievre said. “He said that he would put elbows up, he put elbows down. He said he could handle Donald Trump, and all he’s done is make concession after concession.”

In addition to the counter-tariff carveout, Canada has made other concessions in the negotiations with the American administration. For example, Carney scrapped the controversial digital servicestax, which Trump vehemently opposed.

Poilievre says Trump “smells weakness” as a result.

When pressed on what he would do differently if he were prime minister — for example, by implementing dollar-for-dollar tariffs or increasing sectoral tariffs on aluminum to match those of the U.S. — Poilievre said he would pass his proposed Canadian Sovereignty Act.

The plan calls on the government to “repeal the Liberal growth-blocking laws,” such as C-69, the industrial carbon price, and the oil and gas sector emissions cap, and “reward those who build,” in part by eliminating the capital gains tax on businesses that reinvest in Canada.

And when pressed again on the similarities of that proposal to the Liberals’ recently passed Bill C-5 — dubbed the Building Canada Act, aimed at giving government sweeping new powers to approve major projects — Poilievre insisted “Liberal laws and Liberal bureaucracies” are getting in the way of development.

Poilievre, in his interview, also discussed the size of the public service —saying there should be “billions of dollars” in cuts to the federal bureaucracy — and his upcoming mandatory leadership review, about which he would not say whether there is a specific level of support he is looking to secure.

You can watch Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s full interview on CTV’s Question Period Sunday at 11 a.m. ET.