As U.S. President Donald Trump continues to double down on his desire for Canada to become the 51st state, American governors on both sides of the political aisle are pushing back against the threat that has sparked growing nationalism in Canada<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Governors are convening in Washington, D.C. for the National Governors Association winter meeting. Speaking to reporters on Friday, some were asked about Trump\u2019s ongoing threat to annex Canada<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI love hunting in Canada, and I love my neighbours to the north, but I\u2019m not particularly sure that\u2019s the world\u2019s greatest idea,\u201d Republican North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong said<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear shared a similar sentiment<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cListen, Canada is a proud country. We ought to respect that. We\u2019ve had such a positive relationship, Beshear said. \u201cI hope the people of Canada know that this is not how most Americans feel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There does, however, appear to be some division amongst governors on the utility of tariffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked if he had concerns about the negative economic impact of tariffs, Armstrong said the policy is about bringing more manufacturing jobs back to the U.S<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re a free-market commodity state like North Dakota, we like good trade agreements, but we also want to reset to make sure the United States is being treated fairly,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cSo, we\u2019ll work with the administration if we think they\u2019re detrimental, but we don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Armstrong also called tariffs \u201ca negotiating tool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beshear, meanwhile, says he opposes tariffs and is concerned they will \u201craise prices for both Americans and Canadians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is not who we are. This might be the approach of one president, but we\u2019re much bigger than a president in this country,\u201d Beshear added<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Kentucky governor also said he has relayed his concerns to the Trump administration<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been able to communicate it to different parts of the administration. I\u2019ve certainly spoken publicly about it, both on United States and Canadian media. In the end, tariffs are a tax,\u201d Beshear said<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has announced several rounds of tariffs on Canadian goods, including his initial executive order imposing 25 per cent levies on all imports and 10 per cent on energy, which come into effect as soon as March 4. He later announced there will be additional 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum starting March 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To defend his use of tariffs, Trump has claimed a US$200 billion trade deficit with Canada. But according to Statistics Canada, when trade in goods and services are combined, Canada recorded an overall trade surplus of $94.4 billion with the United States in 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston were both in Washington on Friday to meet with several governors \u2013 including Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp \u2013 to discuss the ongoing tariff threat<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All 13 premiers were also in Washington just last week and met with two members of Trump\u2019s administration at the White House<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked if they are making any progress with U.S. officials in preventing tariffs, Ford said Canadian concerns are \u201con their radar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ford added that most U.S. officials don\u2019t know what Trump wants before the upcoming tariff deadline on March 4<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe ironic thing \u2026 no one down here knows what he wants, and we don\u2019t know what he wants. Let\u2019s sit down and negotiate,\u201d Ford said. \u201cWhat\u2019s shocking to me is how misinformed a lot of elected officials (are) down here, how critical Canada plays in their economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the trade tension, Houston said he believes the relationship between Canada and the U.S. will endure<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a relationship that has survived a couple hundred years, depression, wars, all kinds of highs and lows in the relationship,\u201d Houston said. \u201cI believe we\u2019ll get through this, and we\u2019ll just do everything we can to make sure we get through it faster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Canada\u2019s Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman has been regularly meeting with American officials on the potential imposition of tariffs<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an interview airing Sunday on CTV\u2019s Question Period, Hillman said she has not \u201creceived any explicit assurances\u201d Canada can escape the tariffs slated for next month, despite the federal government\u2019s latest measures to address border security and drug trafficking<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think that what happens is we provide the information. We have received positive recognition of not only the efforts that we\u2019ve made, but the results that are flowing from those efforts,\u201d Hillman said. \u201cBut all of the people that are responsible for taking this information in and then briefing the president on it are not going to speak for the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this month, Canada got reprieve for at least 30 days from Trump\u2019s threat to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian imports after making new commitments to secure the shared border. Those new measures include appointing a \u201cfentanyl czar\u201d and listing drug cartels as terrorist entitie<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New data, meanwhile, shows that fentanyl seizures are decreasing. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, fentanyl seizures from Canada dropped 97 per cent between December 2024 and January 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked by Question Period host Vassy Kapelos whether action at the border is making any meaningful change in negotiations, Hillman said there is a clear distinction between border-related tariffs and Trump\u2019s broader economic agenda<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn the economic side, he\u2019s seeking to use (tariffs) for achieving a trade rebalancing with the world. He\u2019s seeking to use it to attract investment into the United States and also potentially to raise revenue for some of his other objectives,\u201d Hillman said. \u201cSo I think that we need to understand that this is probably a tool that will remain interesting to him for his entire tenure as it was last time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On his first day in office on Jan. 20, Trump announced his \u201cAmerica First Trade Policy\u201d in an executive order, calling for a study into alleged unfair trade practices due April 1<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As U.S. President Donald Trump continues to double down on his desire for Canada to become the 51st state, American governors on both sides of the political aisle are pushing back against the threat that has sparked growing nationalism in Canada Governors are convening in Washington, D.C. for the National Governors Association winter meeting. Speaking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":33706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"jnews_post_split":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n