Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre delivers a speech at the Canada Strong & Free Network conference in Ottawa on March 23, 2023. (Noé Chartier/The Epoch Times)
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is telling the U.S. media that both Canada and the United States benefit from free trade, and should focus on their shared economic and security interests rather than escalating their ongoing trade dispute.
Poilievre, who is on a three-day visit to New York, told CNBC on Sept. 10 that Canadians are “united” in opposing the tariffs and that they do not understand why Canada was targeted, urging a return to tariff-free trade and greater co-operation between the two countries.
“Let’s knock down those tariffs and focus on building a stronger North America for our two separate countries,” Poilievre said.
During the interview, the Conservative leader declined to criticize Prime Minister Mark Carney, saying he would not “attack my prime minister on foreign soil” and that his mission in the United States was to fight for Canada rather than score political points domestically.
When asked where he assigned blame for the dispute, Poilievre said, “The [U.S.] administration hit us with tariffs first and everything escalated thereafter,” adding that “politics ends at the border.”
Poilievre pointed to the countries’ four decades of free trade as a model for returning to tariff-free trade. He said the longstanding relationship has benefitted both countries by lowering costs for workers and boosting economic and security cooperation.
“We have the most successful binational relationship in the history of the world, the longest undefended border, a 40-year free trade agreement that worked, that allowed both our countries to enrich themselves, that lowered costs for workers, and strengthened North America,” he added.
Poilievre said it’s to be expected in a longstanding close trade relationship that there will be points of disagreement, but that he believes they can be resolved.
“We both have our grievances. But the bottom line is, let’s sit down and work them out for the mutual benefit,” the Tory leader stated.
In further comments during the interview, Poilievre highlighted Canada’s potential if it further developed its energy and natural resources, saying it could be “can be the richest country in the world” if taxes are lowered, project approvals are accelerated, and competition is increased.
Poilievre has consistently argued that Ottawa needs to more fully develop its own economic potential in order to have more leverage at the bargaining table with Washington.
Poilievre has supported expanding Canadian trade elsewhere, but has repeatedly said that Canada cannot realistically replace the United States as its principal economic partner. His approach has been to call for strengthening the economy domestically while using Canadian energy and natural resources as leverage to regain tariff-free access to the U.S. market.
The Conservative leader’s appearance on CNBC comes after he called on Carney to make the full draft agreement reached between Canada and the United States before talks broke down on Aug. 21 available to MPs for review, and urged Ottawa to release a public analysis of the economic impact of its counter-tariffs.
Canada-U.S. trade negotiations broke down the evening of Aug. 21, with both sides blaming each other for putting forward unacceptable terms at the last minute.
Washington imposed 50 percent tariffs on $27.6 billion of Canadian goods effective Aug. 22, while Canada imposed counter-tariffs on a matching value of U.S. goods that took effect Sept. 8.
In addition to meeting with business leaders and appealing to the American public through media appearances, Poilievre is scheduled to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks at the end of his trip, with his office highlighting the tragedy as a time when Canada and the United States stood together in solidarity.