Can’t let guard down on tariff war: Kinew By: Carol Sanders Posted: 4:19 PM CDT Thursday, Apr. 3, 2025

Canada may have dodged the round of U.S. tariffs unveiled Wednesday, but it’s too soon to declare victory or even a truce in the trade war, Premier Wab Kinew said Thursday.

“Because of the threats that our steel industry is facing, because of the threats the auto industry in our neighbouring province of Ontario are facing, the American booze is still going to stay off the shelves” in Manitoba Liquor Marts, Kinew said after meeting virtually with Prime Minister Mark Carney and his fellow first ministers.

“We’re doing that as one of the steps that we’ve taken that’s gotten attention south of the border and also as an act of solidarity to show that we support our neighbouring provinces who are going to be feeling impacts along with Manitoba,” the premier told reporters in his office.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he was forging ahead with 25 per cent tariffs on auto imports, to be imposed Thursday, which were added to existing 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports into the U.S., including from Canada.

Trump also unveiled a 10 per cent baseline tariff on imports from most countries and a lengthy list of higher tariffs to be charged on goods from dozens of countries. While Canada and Mexico weren’t listed, a White House fact sheet said goods imported under the CUSMA (Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement) free trade pact will not be subject to tariffs, although imports that fall outside of it will be hit with 25 per cent levies.

“We’ve also got manufacturers who produce goods that are not covered by the CUSMA deal,” Kinew said without going into detail. “We’re concerned about them and the impact on the Canadian economy of the auto tariffs and the overall changes to the global trade,” he said.

“They’re going to hit us here in Manitoba in various ways,” the premier said after the first ministers discussed Canada’s response to the latest tariffs and how to defend the Canadian economy.

The counter-attack is one “that maximizes impacts in the U.S., minimizes impacts on Canadians, and avoids escalating a trade crisis that Canada has worked hard to prevent,” a readout of their meeting said.

Proceeds from Canada’s retaliatory tariffs will support workers and businesses affected by the U.S. tariffs, Carney told the premiers.

Both Canada and Mexico remain under the threat of sweeping tariffs that Trump has linked to the flow of fentanyl across the borders.

“We still have to be responsive because the situation can change and we’re going to have to continue to ride this wave,” Kinew said.

The premier tuned in Wednesday to watch Trump unveil his list of punishing tariffs on countries across the globe at the White House rose garden.

“Like a lot of people around the world, I was trying to zoom in and read the giant Trump prop… to see where Canada was,” Kinew said. “That just speaks to the confusion and the uncertainty that everyone’s facing right now,” he said.

“The Trump administration has changed the world, and we are in the process of adapting and directing ourselves to a new trading equilibrium,” the premier said.

He said Manitoba must fight for its manufacturing sector, steel industry and agricultural producers. At the same time, the U.S. will always be our neighbour, and Canada needs to make its case that tariffs hurt consumers in both countries.

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“There are still Americans that we can partner with,” Kinew said.

The premier referred to members of the U.S. Senate, including four Republicans, who passed a resolution Wednesday night aimed at thwarting his ability to impose tariffs on Canada, hours after Trump unveiled his plans.

“The biggest play that we can make is to the American public… (and) that we can withstand this turbulence long enough for the average American to realize how foolish this whole tariff venture is.”

— With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter

Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.

Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.