Nothing should be off the table when it comes to Canada-U.S. trade, says former Trump ambassador

CBC

16-03-2025

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Donald Trump's former ambassador to the European Union says nothing should be off the table when it comes to Canada-U.S. trade discussions and that the U.S. president wants immediate change on his irritants like dairy and auto manufacturing.
"You cannot have fair and multilateral trade by someone saying that something is not up for grabs," Gordon Sondland said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live on Sunday. "Everything is up for grabs. Everything."
Sondland referred to Canada's supply management system — a national policy framework meant to ensure predictable and stable prices by guaranteeing supply-managed dairy farmers a minimum price for their products. Trump has railed against the system for years.
During the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations in 2018, Canada fiercely protected supply management despite the Trump administration's protestations.
Trump's team views Canada's red line on supply management as a "very dismissive response," Sondland said, adding that the U.S. will pressure Canadian officials on all trade fronts "because everything is a blank sheet of paper."
The former ambassador's comments come as Trump either imposes or threatens tariffs on Canada, the European Union and soon the entire world.
"I think what President Trump is trying to do with all of these [trade] relationships is create some immediate action by essentially blowing things up in order to put them back together again," Sondland told host Rosemary Barton.
But Gordon Griffin, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada, is critical of Trump for creating a confusing trade war through tariffs "that have no justification."
"It's impossible to discern what the president's goal is with these tariffs," Griffin said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live.
WATCH | Canada announces $29.8 billion in retaliatory tariffs:
Canada announces $29.8 billion in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods
4 days ago
Duration 1:28
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc outlines the federal government's plan to slap tariffs on $29.8 billion worth of American goods to hit back against U.S. President Donald Trump after he imposed tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Over the past few months, Trump and his team have cycled through different reasons for U.S. tariffs, including fentanyl and illegal immigration, Canada's auto sector and banking regulations, certain digital policies and Canada's defence spending.
"If he was responding to some trade issue with Canada that we could identify with the tariffs, then we might be able to have a conversation," Griffin said. "But it's hard to solve for a solution when you don't know what the problem is."
Griffin said Canada's response to Trump's tariffs — which so far is a 25 per cent levy on some $60 billion worth of American goods — "has been very good" and "will ultimately make an impact on U.S. consumers and businesses."
The next big deadline: April 2
After meeting with Trump trade representatives in Washington, D.C., Canadian officials say the U.S. president and his administration plan to impose tariffs by sector in countries around the world on April 2.
David Paterson, Ontario's representative in Washington, said in an interview on Power & Politics that countries that get along the best with the U.S. will be "first in line" to adjust or mitigate the tariffs.
"This is the policy. This is the way they're going forward," he told host David Cochrane.
"Tariffs are now a global policy of the United States," Paterson said. "And this is a historic change to global trading patterns, and [the Americans are] very aware of that."
WATCH | Ontario's representative in Washington explains Trump's global tariff plan:
What was said at the 'productive' meeting in D.C. this week?
2 days ago
Duration 11:08
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and multiple federal officials met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington on Thursday, a meeting that Ford says made him feel more positive about the Canada-U.S. trade relationship. Power & Politics hears from Ontario's representative in Washington, D.C., David Paterson.
According to Paterson, the U.S. government is focused on dealing with its yearly deficit in federal spending. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the federal government ran a $1.83 trillion US deficit in the 2024 fiscal year.
Tariffs, Paterson said, are meant to be a revenue source and attract investment into the U.S.
Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador to the U.S., said the Americans know Canada will respond to Trump's tariff on April 2 and that the president's team is "deeply focused" on that deadline.
"It's the rest of the world that is going to now be brought into their plan. And that is [the Americans'] singular focus," Hillman said. "After that happens, then we'll see what they think the next step might be."