EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared in Parliament Today, a Village Media newsletter devoted to covering federal politics on Parliament Hill.
Canadian Labour Congress president Bea Bruske is giving Ottawa the week to respond to U.S. President Donald Trump’s doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, which took effect Wednesday morning.
Bruske joined Canadian Chamber of Commerce president Candace Laing and Federation of Canadian Municipalities CEO Carole Saab at a Hill presser Wednesday, stressing Ottawa should respond with urgency to the president’s latest trade war escalation.
“We just came through a federal election. We just had parties identifying that they are going to be in workers’ corners,” Bruske said. “Now we need to see proof in the pudding to actually see this is happening.”
So far, Ottawa appears to be mulling over its options.
On his way into the Liberals’ caucus meeting, Prime Minister Mark Carney called the latest tariffs on steel and aluminum illegal, unjustified and “a bad idea” for both nations — but stopped short of committing to further action.
“We will take some time, not much, because we are in intensive discussions right now with the Americans on the trading relationship. These discussions are progressing,” Carney told Hill reporters.
He pointed out that Trump’s latest escalation is a global levy and not one specifically targeting Canada.
Bruske said the government should prioritize retaliation and the use of domestic steel and aluminum for Canadian projects, arguing this should be a requirement in forthcoming government legislation to speed up project development.
Carney briefed premiers on that bill during their meeting in Saskatoon on Monday, though government House leader Steven MacKinnon remained mum on a timeline for its tabling.
MacKinnon told Hill reporters that “people are impatient for there to be a clear process to begin and complete this work,” expressing hope that the bill speeding up approvals will have public buy-in and support from opposition parties. Carney plans to loop this into legislation that will knock down internal trade barriers, which the PM has vowed to do by July 1. MPs rise for the summer break on June 20.
In response to a question from Parliament Today, Bruske said that a verbal commitment, similar to that made by Industry Minister Mélanie Joly to use domestic products in future projects, wasn’t enough and it should be etched out in legislation.
NDP interim leader Don Davies agreed with Bruske, arguing the use of Canadian steel should be "mandatory in all government infrastructure projects.” He said Ottawa must roll out “strong” counter-tariffs quickly because jobs are at stake “right now and frankly, this was not a surprise.”
“What we need is not time and deliberation, but action,” said Davies.
For her part, Joly vowed to “fight against” the latest tariffs, without specifying how.
“We have had really strong counter-tariffs against the Americans already,” Joly told reporters on her way into question period. “We will make a decision but we need a bit more time right now.”
The minister also skirted questions about whether Ontario Premier Doug Ford is out of line for publicly pushing for retaliatory tariffs. Ford, who chairs the Council of the Federation, said he wants Ottawa to match Trump’s levies.
Laing did not say whether she backs Ford’s approach, though she sympathized with the government wanting to take time to formulate a response.
“I’m trying to even discipline myself, because this is frustrating, this is emotional and (has) real impacts to people we know,” Laing said. “It's understandable to want to show fight, but we have to also be thoughtful as we contemplate our response.”
Bank holds steady
The comments came after Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem announced a hold in the interest rate at 2.75 per cent, citing an “unusual level of uncertainty” amid shifting U.S. trade policy.
Macklem told Ottawa reporters that underlying inflation could be “a little bit firmer than we thought,” referencing a mixed bag of CPI data as it dropped to 1.7 per cent in April. That was in part because of the removal of the carbon tax, though other metrics showed more growth.
But with a flurry of announcements coming out of the White House on a near-daily basis, Macklem also opened the door to a rate cut down the line.
“The longer these tariffs go on, the longer these uncertainties go on, the more it’s going to weigh on the Canadian economy and the more that is going to put downward pressure on inflation,” he explained.
He added that, while U.S. tariffs are having an impact on businesses and the economy, Canada’s retaliatory measures have not yet shown up in the inflation data, though that will peek through “in the months ahead.”
“We will be looking at both those things. In our deliberations, we did talk about the future path, and the governing council thought that there could be a need for a further reduction,” he said. “I wouldn't interpret that as forward-guidance, that was part of our deliberations, nothing more, nothing less.”
The BoC will mull over two CPI reports before making its next interest rate decision on July 30.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce said it’s clear the bank is contending with uncertainty, arguing in a release that keeping the rate steady shows it is “uneasy about where prices are headed.” The group accused the central bank of “staring at the data and saying, ‘If things deteriorate by July, we’ll move,’” which will ultimately add “more heat” on the July decision.
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