Prime Minister Mark Carney laughed off a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro on Tuesday, after Navarro told Canadian lobbyists in Washington to “get the hell out” of the United States and cautioned Canada against meddling in the U.S. midterm elections.
Navarro made the remarks at an event in Washington on national security and trade, according to reporting by CTV News, The Canadian Press and The Associated Press. “Do you really want to spend any time on Canada? Any Canadians here? Like, please, if you’re on K Street, get the hell out of the country,” Navarro said, referring to the Washington street long associated with the lobbying industry.
He went on to argue that Canada’s past success in lobbying Congress and the administration was over. “The problem you have is you lobby this country and you’ve been successful in the past and you think you can keep doing that,” Navarro said, according to CBC News. “You cannot do that. That game is up and if you interfere in our elections in Maine or Michigan you will pay even more dearly.”
Navarro did not detail what he meant by interference in Maine or Michigan, two border states with close economic ties to Canada. CBC News also reported that Navarro accused Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford of talking “trash” about Trump for domestic political gain.
Asked about the comments at a news conference in British Columbia, Carney laughed out loud before answering. “I take note of both comments, how’s that? No response to either,” he said, according to CTV News. The prime minister was responding both to Navarro and to remarks Trump made on Monday. Asked later whether Canada could escalate its own response, Carney said he would “never rule anything out,” adding that Canada’s actions are not “dictated by any specific aspect of the U.S. calendar.”
Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump predicted Canada would come to him within three or four weeks seeking a deal. “They’re gonna come in and they’re gonna say, ‘Sir, we are sorry,'” Trump said, as reported by CTV News.
Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc rejected the idea. “I’m not thinking that the government of Canada is going to apologize for standing up for Canadian workers,” LeBlanc said, according to Global News, adding that the United States had broken the free trade agreement between the two countries.
The exchange came hours after a U.S. ban on nearly US$1 billion worth of Canadian goods, covering alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motorcycles, took effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday. Canada News Media reported earlier on what the bans cover. The measures are the latest step in a trade dispute that has deepened since August, when Carney pulled Canadian negotiators out of Washington, according to Global News.
Opposition parties used the day to press the government. Conservative trade critic Shuvaloy Majumdar called the import ban “another unjustified attack on Canadian workers, businesses and producers,” The Canadian Press reported. LeBlanc, for his part, used social media to promote the removal of trade barriers between provinces, saying Canada must be “ambitious in ensuring that Canadian goods, services, and workers can move across Canada barrier-free.”
South of the border, the U.S. industry group Toasts Not Tariffs, which represents businesses that rely on Canadian products, called for a negotiated resolution once the ban took effect, according to CTV News.
Navarro’s warning about lobbying lands in a city where Canadian governments, provinces and businesses have spent years building relationships with members of Congress, governors and state legislators, particularly in border states whose economies depend on cross-border trade. It is not clear whether the administration plans any formal action against Canadian lobbying or advocacy.
No new round of formal talks between Ottawa and Washington has been announced.
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Via CTV News, with additional reporting from CBC News and Global News.
