Poilievre Calls on Liberal Government to Reveal Cost of Counter-Tariffs

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is demanding that Prime Minister Mark Carney reveal the cost of Canadian counter-tariffs on the United States set to go into effect Sept. 8, as well as disclose the full deal reached before trade negotiations with Washington broke down Aug. 21.

Poilievre charged that Carney accepted a deal and asked his premiers and caucus to back it before negotiations fell apart.

“There must have been a written record of that deal, and there’s no reason not to share with Canadians,” Poilievre said in a Sept. 7 press conference in Regina. “They deserve to see it so that they can judge what we are fighting for and what we are fighting against,” he added.

In terms of counter-tariffs, Poilievre noted that Carney has acknowledged they could have negative impacts and said this information should be shared with the public.

“The prime minister … obviously has an analysis on how his counter-tariffs will increase inflation and costs for small businesses,” Poilievre said. “We just wanted to release that analysis so that single moms, small business owners, seniors know what they’re going to have to pay.”

The Liberal government has introduced a $7.5 billion plan to help industries and workers affected by the tariff war.

On Aug. 18, Trump said he was delaying them by three days, declaring that Canada and the United States were close to a deal “subject to the finalization of documents.”

Carney said “significant progress” had been reached in negotiations on Aug. 20, and asked premiers to return American alcohol to shelves and look to remove government restrictions on procuring from U.S. suppliers.

Explaining the breakdown of talks on Aug. 21, Carney said Washington had sought to limit Canada’s ability to make trade deals with other countries, not give tariff relief to Canadian heavy-duty and medium-duty trucks, and erode some of Canada’s French-language protections.

Carney also added Sept. 3 that Ottawa had been trying to get “real relief” from American tariffs on Canadian lumber but was “not satisfied with what was offered, or the durability of what was offered.”

The Trump administration offered a different account of what happened. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Ottawa had put forward “new demands and walk-backs of other commitments” at the last-minute, something Carney denied.

Carney said on Aug. 22 that the counter-tariffs could have a negative impact on Canada.

“We take this step reluctantly, reluctantly because we recognize that some of these measures will raise costs and reduce choice for Canadians,” he said.

In response to these counter-tariffs, Trump announced that new 50 percent tariffs on Canadian auto parts and vehicles will go into effect at the start of 2027.

In his Sept. 7 remarks, Poilievre noted that University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe has estimated Canadian consumers could experience roughly $4 billion in cost hikes due to the counter-tariffs and that lower-income Canadians will bear the brunt of the impact.

“Mr. Carney obviously has done an economic study before he would impose this. Clearly, no government would impose billions of dollars of tariffs without having studied what the impact would be on Canadian consumers,” Poilievre said.

He said the plan should outline how to save Canadian jobs, cut taxes, speed up project approvals, and attract more investment into Canada.