Poilievre says Carney failed on tariffs, urges resource exports

Poilievre called on the government to ditch trade tariffs and instead fight U.S. trade friction with raw economic power, demanding aggressive expansion of energy exports.

Source: X

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on the government to ditch trade tariffs and instead fight U.S. trade friction with raw economic power, demanding aggressive expansion of energy exports.

In a video posted to X the day after New Year’s, Poilievre said Canada must recognize its economic reality and refocus its trade strategy.

He said Canada’s economy is deeply tied to the United States and warned against ignoring that relationship.

“75 per cent of our exports go to the United States. We can’t ignore the fact that American capitalism is the most powerful economic force in the history of the world, and they’re right next door,” said Poilievre. “Our goal should have to be to come to some sort of a deal that will eliminate these tariffs, in exchange for which we offer a security partnership that will make both of our countries more safe and secure, while protecting our sovereignty.”

To accomplish this, Poilievre said that trade diversification must go hand in hand with expanding export capacity, particularly for Canadian natural resources.

“It means that we also have to unlock our eastern and western ports, and maybe even northern ports to hit other markets, and that goes back to unlocking our economy and our resources, which are by far our biggest exports.”

Despite Prime Minister Mark Carney focusing his electoral campaign on dealing with tariffs and negotiating with U.S. President Donald Trump, Poilievre said Carney had missed the mark.

“Mr. Carney has literally broken every single promise related to trade. Despite 20 trips around the world, he has not reduced a single tariff line in any other foreign country,” said Poilievre. “He was going to open all these foreign markets. There’s not one tariff that any country, anywhere in the world, has reduced on Canada since he became prime minister.”

However, Poilievre said it was time to get Canada’s resources out of the ground and shipped overseas.

“That’s how we respond to the unfair tariffs from a position of strength,” he said.

Despite signing a memorandum of understanding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, Carney and his government opposed a Conservative motion to support a West Coast pipeline.

The Alberta legislature passed a similar motion supporting the MOU. However, it is largely inconsequential since the federal motion failed after Liberal, Bloc Québécois, and NDP MPs voted against it.

Although Smith had previously warned Ottawa that if it “didn’t get on board,” the U.S. would be a “willing partner” she “could and would turn to.”

Despite campaigning on a tougher trade stance, Carney’s government has since dismantled most of Canada’s retaliatory tariff regime. In late August, Ottawa quietly removed nearly all counter-tariffs on U.S. imports through an order-in-council, leaving only steel, aluminum, and automotive products subject to duties.

The rollback went further than initially disclosed, applying to goods outside the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement and, in some cases, retroactively. The changes effectively nullified the vast majority of tariffs Canada imposed earlier in the year in response to U.S. protectionist measures.

Despite the concessions, Ottawa has not secured any foreign tariff reductions on Canadian exports, leaving Canada’s trade position largely unchanged.