Q&A | Dominic LeBlanc on relationship with U.S. commerce secretary and tariff 'chaos'

Events of the past week with the on-again, off-again tariffs person enactment many Canadians connected edge. 

After going up with 25 per cent tariffs connected Canadian goods connected Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday that helium is pausing them connected immoderate goods until April 2.

White House officials said the tariff reprieve would lone use to Canadian exports that are compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, besides known arsenic CUSMA.

Beauséjour MP Dominic LeBlanc, the curate of concern and intergovernmental affairs, has been talking to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about the tariff issue. 

LeBlanc spoke with CBC Radio's Information Morning Moncton big Jonna Brewer. 

The speech has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

Q: How are you managing this ever-changing strategy from the U.S.?

A: I responded conscionable present … to a substance connection that I got from Howard Lutnick, the U.S. commerce secretary. He's moving hard and seems to beryllium up late. I woke up this greeting and he'd sent maine a connection that would travel successful astatine 1:50 a.m. 

I've been going backmost and distant with him successful the past fewer weeks, but peculiarly successful the past fewer days. He broached the thought with maine a fewer days agone that President Trump would exempt CUSMA-compliant exports. So those are goods sent to the United States that conscionable the requirements of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement. It's a bully measurement forward. 

We did not assistance our retaliatory tariffs connected $30 cardinal of imports from the United States, and I told him we weren't going to assistance that archetypal retaliatory measurement until we got to nary tariffs, due to the fact that we didn't deliberation that immoderate of these tariffs are adjuvant to our system and surely the American system arsenic well. 

He understood that. We agreed to postpone by 9 days the further $125 cardinal of U.S. imports to Canada that we would deed with a 25 per cent tariff. 

It lines up with a day successful U.S. instrumentality that President Trump has acceptable of April 2, wherever the Americans archer america they privation to person planetary tariff decisions. 

So what Secretary Lutnick has been saying to maine is, look, let's enactment done the challenges successful the Canada-U.S. and possibly U.S.-Mexico narration — though their Mexican circumstances [are] a spot much analyzable than ours, successful immoderate respects — to spot if we can't resoluteness this earlier they get into a precise analyzable condition with China, with India.

LISTEN | Finance curate says if U.S. tariffs are rescinded, counter-tariffs volition beryllium too: 

You tin spot that they're precise focused connected the Chinese dumping into the North American marketplace products.

They're focused connected companies that effort and get low-cost products from India oregon China, re-label it arsenic Made successful Mexico oregon Canada. … That's fine. They should absorption connected that. We should absorption connected that too. So if we tin get the speech focused connected that, it's a much, I think, easier spot for america to be. 

But we can't get determination until we person these tariffs lifted, and we spell backmost to the free-trading relationship, which is successful the involvement of the American system and American consumers and Canada arsenic well, of course.

Q. Does Mr. Lutnick substance you often?

A: Sort of, yeah. …  I spoke to him erstwhile I landed astatine the Moncton airdrome [Thursday] afternoon. He called maine arsenic I was virtually coming done the airport. I saw the telephone ring, I sat down connected a bench, and talked to him for a mates of minutes conscionable earlier President Trump signed these orders.

He's been precise collegial, successful the consciousness of keeping maine up to day connected what helium and President Trump are doing. 

The situation is it changes each week.

So I conjecture we benignant of person to judge that we're not liable for however they prosecute their authorities oregon the decisions the American authorities makes. I'm precise serene astir that. 

Our occupation is to fig retired the champion mode to support the Canadian system and Canadian workers. But much than conscionable support our system — guarantee that the system tin proceed to turn and that companies tin proceed to beryllium palmy and tin beryllium much prosperous.

So this was the condition three, four, 5 weeks ago. I don't cognize wherefore it can't beryllium the condition 4 weeks from now.

Q: It's truthful heated, truthful emotional, astatine slightest from, you know, the extracurricular looking in. Give america a consciousness of what the temper is successful the country erstwhile you're sitting determination with Mr. Lutnick and trying to negociate this.

A: He's precise businesslike. It's precise professional. There's nary idiosyncratic complication astatine all. 

I archetypal met him erstwhile we went to the supper astatine Mar-a-Lago with President Trump aft his predetermination earlier the inauguration, truthful I deliberation it was aboriginal December oregon extremity of November. 

I went with the premier curate to supper. [Lutnick] was sitting 2 seats distant from me. His wife, Allison, was sitting beside me. He's a compelling guy. 

The communicative [is], helium was CEO of a large Wall Street firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, that became globally known aft 9/11, erstwhile astir 700 of their unit died successful the onslaught connected the Twin Towers. His member died. He was the young president of that important business, and the crushed helium survived, helium wasn't astatine the bureau that greeting due to the fact that he'd taken his girl to her archetypal time of kindergarten.

This became known successful the aftermath of that horrible violent attack. He became well-known successful the United States. He raised hundreds of millions of dollars for victims of 9/11. So his story, and … I talked to him astir that, and it's precise overmuch portion of who helium is. 

He strikes maine arsenic idiosyncratic who is simply a precise palmy New York businessperson who has known President Trump for 30 years. They're intelligibly friends. And helium has a relation arsenic the commerce caput that's indispensable to effort and robust retired immoderate of this commercialized chaos. 

So we're going to proceed to enactment with him successful the champion mode we can.

Q: It's got to beryllium tough, though, erstwhile the justification for these tariffs is ever-shifting, you know, archetypal borderline information concerns, fentanyl. … Why bash you deliberation he's benignant of backing disconnected connected these tariffs astatine this time?

A: Therein lies the challenge. The archetypal justification was borderline security, amerciable migration and the postulation of amerciable fentanyl into the United States.

The facts carnivore out, I think, a precise bully communicative astir Canadian collaboration with U.S. authorities. I was the nationalist information curate 2½ months ago. We were doing, and had been for immoderate time, a batch of bully enactment with U.S. cause enforcement agencies, the FBI, the RCMP. … So the collaboration, co-operation is extensive, and it was achieving results. 

The RCMP were virtually kicking down doors and arresting radical successful immoderate of the ace labs producing this toxic fentanyl successful Canada, radical were being dragged earlier the courts with superior transgression charges. 

The situation is President Trump decides that he's going to punish the Canadian system due to the fact that there's an opioid cause situation successful the United States that, sadly, we besides person successful Canada. 

And this is what I've been saying, and the premier curate said it to Mr. Trump astatine the supper astatine Mar-a-Lago: there's nary daylight betwixt the authorities of Canada and the authorities of the United States successful wanting to combat criminal, trans-national cause cartels that are sidesplitting radical successful the streets, sadly, of large and tiny communities crossed our state too. 

So I anticipation that communal consciousness tin prevail. 

And again, past week, we were told Tom Homan, Mr. Trump's borderline czar, had a precise palmy and affirmative gathering with the commissioner of the RCMP [and] my colleague, David McGuinty. So often, successful the end, we get to the close place. 

There's a definite magnitude of turbulence connected the mode through, but usually you onshore successful 1 piece, and it's fine. That's benignant of wherever we go. 

But this turbulence is not adjuvant to the Canadian system due to the fact that concern radical are making decisions connected investments, connected expansions. And if this uncertainty continues, determination is needfully benignant of a contraction successful concern decisions, which volition not beryllium adjuvant to the Canadian economy. 

So arsenic the concern minister, I'm focused connected however to get done this arsenic rapidly arsenic we can, truthful that concern radical tin proceed to marque decisions and investments that are successful the involvement of our system and workers successful Canada, and not clouded by this disorder coming retired of Washington.

Q: You're keeping immoderate of the counter-tariffs successful place, provinces are pushing up with their non-tariff responses. But isn't that a small risky astatine this point?

A: No. I've been reassured and encouraged by the absorption of unity and the affectional absorption of Canadians to this unjustified onslaught connected our economy. 

So Canadians would decently not judge that the authorities oregon the governments — plural due to the fact that provinces person been very, precise constructive allies with each different and with the authorities of Canada — they would not recognize wherefore we took our ft disconnected the state successful presumption of our effect measures until we get to a concern wherever we're backmost to having nary tariffs successful the commercialized betwixt Canada and the United States. 

So pausing by an further 9 days the 2nd tranche is simply a tenable happening to do.  

The Department of Finance told maine primitively that for the adjacent $125 cardinal of counter-tariffs, the much clip we tin springiness Canadian businesses to alteration their proviso chains, to adapt, to look for different sources of proviso than American suppliers, the better. 

I deliberation Canadians expect america to stay resolute successful the look of this wholly unjustified menace to the economy, and I said that to Secretary Lutnick, that helium should expect that our measures would stay successful place. But let's enactment rapidly to region each of the tariffs, and then, of course, if their tariffs are rescinded, truthful excessively volition ours be.

That's got to beryllium wherever we privation to get to, and we can't piecemeal it retired and instrumentality assemblage X retired and past assemblage Y, and past what astir immoderate different sector? You could spot however rapidly that becomes divisive successful Canada, and it's not an effectual way, I think, to negotiate.