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Canada is open to purchasing extra US army {hardware} and forging a deeper crucial minerals alliance with its southern neighbour, the nation’s power minister has mentioned, as Ottawa lobbies to influence Donald Trump to not impose swingeing tariffs.
Jonathan Wilkinson advised the Monetary Occasions that Ottawa was keen to construct nearer ties with Washington that would assist the president-elect’s priorities of strengthening America’s power independence and assembly the problem posed by China’s rise as an financial and army energy.
This might embrace buying submarines and different army gear and growing extra crucial mineral tasks in Canada that might displace Chinese language merchandise from US provide chains, he mentioned.
“There are alternatives for us to obtain a whole lot of the go-forward army gear, just like the submarines from the US. And positively, we’re open to that as a part of the broader dialog,” mentioned Wilkinson throughout an interview in Washington.
However he warned Ottawa would reply with “tit-for-tat” measures if Trump, who might be sworn in as US president on Monday, imposed a threatened 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian imports into the US.
Wilkinson mentioned retaliatory tariffs would give attention to merchandise that might create “the best quantity of angst in the US with the least quantity of ache in Canada”, probably metal from Michigan or orange juice from Florida.
However he mentioned such an consequence would undermine mutual belief and referred to as the struggle over tariffs a “distraction” from extra urgent points.
“The problem that we face internationally proper now, it’s not Canada-US, it’s China,” mentioned Wilkinson. “It has strategic management of quite a few totally different belongings, and notably true of crucial minerals.”
He referred to as for the North American allies to “construct an power and minerals safety partnership or alliance that truly allows us to each contribute to widespread outcomes”.
Final month, Beijing banned the export of a number of uncommon earths to the US in an escalation of a expertise battle. China controls a lot of the provide chain for uncommon earths, that are crucial inputs for superior clear power and defence applied sciences.
Wilkinson’s go to to Washington — the place he’s assembly Republican politicians, trade representatives and different stakeholders — is a part of an more and more frantic lobbying effort by Ottawa aimed toward persuading the US president-elect to withstand imposing tariffs on Canada, which economists have warned would tip the nation’s economy into recession.
In November, Trump proposed the 25 per cent tariffs on all imports from Mexico and Canada, accusing the US’s closest neighbours of failing to sort out unlawful migration and drug trafficking.
The US and Canadian economies are deeply intertwined. Canada’s oil trade provides greater than half of US crude imports, and Washington has invested tens of million of {dollars} in Canadian crucial mineral tasks in a bid to cut back reliance on Chinese language imports.
Wilkinson mentioned US tariffs on Canadian imports would damage US shoppers in addition to Canadians, pushing up the value of fuel and different very important items. “The place are they going to get potash? The place are they going to get uranium?” he mentioned. “The place are they going to get crucial minerals? Are they actually going to show to China?”
Final week, Trump steered he might use “economic force” to annex Canada, saying it will be “a lot better for nationwide safety”.
Wilkinson mentioned Canadians have been agitated by the remark, including that Canada “wouldn’t turn into a 51st state”.
“We’re a sovereign nation,” he mentioned. “Our nationwide recreation is hockey, it’s not soccer or baseball. We go to Tim Hortons, we don’t go to Dunkin’ Donuts, and we’ve got two languages, they’re English and French . . . Canadians have little interest in being People.”
