Ont. primed for retaliatory tariffs if Trump imposes on auto first, says trade minister

The heart of Canada'sauto industry may be in Ontario, but the fate of that sector is hanging on decisions that will be made in Washington, after a Thursday hearing.

That's where theU.S. Commerce Department heard from experts and politicians on both sides of the border about the potentialconsequences President Donald Trump's proposed 25 per cent auto tariffwould have on the industry.

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Of the Canadian delegates who attended and spoke at the hearing,Jim Wilson was there to defend Ontario's interests.

Wilson isOntario's Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. He spoke with CBCRadio's Windsor Morning host Tony Doucette about what he saw and where things are going.

Here is what Wilson had to say:

What points did you make at those hearings yesterday?

Well, we were down there to defendvigorously defendjobs in Ontario but also, more importantly for those hearings, to remind our American friends we have deeply integrated supply chain when it comes to automobiles and auto parts, and that supply chain has served us very well since the 1960s in the original auto pact and now under NAFTA, that we are certainly no threat to the national security of the United States of America and that there's more jobs at stake and more pain will be felt by the people of America should Trump [impose] tariffs.

He's threatening 25 per cent on automobiles and parts should he go ahead and do that there will be millions of people who suffer on his side of the border and it would devastating on our side of the border, of course.

But I think a lot of the American decision makers including the president don't understand how important that trading relationship is to jobs on the U.S. side.

There's an unprecedented movement down there to ensure that Canada and Ontario is exempt from any tariffs the president might bring in the automotive sector.- Jim Wilson, Ontario's Minister of Trade

How much influence to you think those arguments will have with the committee?

The particular panel I appeared on, the European Union was represented, Mexico, Chile I believe, the Government of Canada through our deputy ambassador to the United States, and Turkey, believe it or not, was on the panel.

So we were the only sub-national of about 48 presenters yesterday, so itjust shows how important automobile and automobile parts are to the province of Ontario.

Listen to Jim Wilson's interview onCBC'sWindsor Morning:

Ont. trade minister on his message for Washington

6 years ago

Duration 7:28

Ontario Trade Minister Jim Wilson joined Power & Politics to discuss the message he is bringing to Washington on the threat of U.S. auto tariffs.

We're about 90 per cent of the automobile sector and [for] about 86 or 87 per cent of everything we producein that sector, the United States is our number one customer for exports.

I think the president's problem is he doesn't like his relationship in terms with trade with China and Mexico, and he's picking on all of us.- Jim Wilson, Ontario's Minister of Trade

But at the same time, there's 106,000 or so people directly employed on the Ontario side in the automotive sector or manufacturing sector, but there's about 900,000 or close to one million people on the U.S. side and their jobs are very much in jeopardy as are ours should the president go ahead.

How optimistic are you about these tariffs being avoided all together?

There's an unprecedented movement down there to ensure that Canada and Ontario is exempt from any tariffs the president might bring in the automotive sector. We saw 148 members of Congress signed a letter just on the first day we were down there signed a letter to the president indicating that Canada and Ontario should be exempt from any tariffs he might bring forward. And we also saw the auto parts, auto servicing sector come together in a letter they published to one of the major U.S. newspaper, co-signed by organizations that have never come together before, asking the president to do the same thing, to exempt Canada and Ontario from any tariffs.

What we'll have to do is of course agree with the federal government, do retaliatory tariffs and see if we can't hit the president's voting base.-Jim Wilson, Ontario's Minister of Trade

I think the president's problem is he doesn't like his relationship in terms with trade with China and Mexico, and he's picking on all of us. Well, he's going to hurt an awful lot of families, he's going to hurt his friends, when he really should be going after those he has irritants with.

Some think he's using this as a tool to move NAFTA negotiations along. Are you hearing any of that?

Yeah, absolutely. I mean we went down there shoulder to shoulder with our federal government who want to keep NAFTA separate from Section232 impending tariffs hanging over us, and that's not the case in the states. They look at everything as one package, so you're absolutely right, the president is probably using one to leverage the other.

But he's going to hurt an awful lot of people, Ithink on unintended consequences, and we were down there to remind decision makers who can get to him that he shouldn't be hurting his own people in the millions when we have to put on and other countries put on retaliatory tariffs which not only hit the automotive sector but every sector across the board including agriculture.

If these tariffs are proposed what is your government prepared to do?

What we'll have to do is, of course, agree with the federal government, do retaliatory tariffs and see if we can't hit the president's voting base.

You hate to do that because these are real people on both sides of the border that will get hurt. Real families that have to put food on the table and that will make life very very difficult for everyone, but if he wants to go down that road we'll have to meet him tit for tat.

What happens next?

There's a process in the U.S. when the hearings wrap up, they'll make recommendations, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross will makes recommendations to the president. And as early as September, we're told, he may or may not decide to impose tariffs. He may just continue the threat, take the advice from the community.

We're hoping the committee says do whatever you have to do to these other countries to solve your difference, but don't touch this really valuable world-class relationship you have with Canada and Ontario with respect to autos and auto parts. I mean it's deep, it's friendly, it produces prosperity and jobs on both sides of the border, and hopefully the committee will say 'Mr. President just don't mess up that relationship.'

It would really take too many decades to repair as it took many decades to create.