Politics Briefing: U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium threaten trade war with Canada

Share

Good morning,

The federal government is vowing to retaliate against the United States if its plan to impose steep tariffs on steel and aluminium does not exclude Canada.

President Donald Trump says he'll sign an order next week to impose a 25 per cent tariff on steel imports and 10 per cent on aluminum, which he said would protector the sectors "for a long period of time." The announcement has raised the prospect of a trade war and complicated renegotiations of the North American free-trade agreement.

The Canadian government has been lobbying for an exemption from any restrictions on steel and aluminium imports, though it's unclear if that will be part of next week's order. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada would see any trade restrictions on steel and aluminum from this country as unacceptable, particularly from a key ally such as the United States. She says any attack on Canadian steel and aluminium would be met with retaliation.

U.S. steel and aluminium stocks jumped following the announcement, but that was more than offset by wider market declines amid fears of retaliation by China and Europe as well as broader economic concerns about trade protectionism.

This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay in Ottawa, Mayaz Alam in Toronto and James Keller in Vancouver. If you're reading this on the web or someone forwarded this email newsletter to you, you can sign up for Politics Briefing and all Globe newsletters here. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.

TODAY'S HEADLINES

Ontario's Progressive Conservatives begin voting for a new leader today, as the party attempts to move past a tumultuous few weeks that begin with the resignation of Patrick Brown. But the online vote, which continues until next weekend's convention, is already marred by complaints from the campaigns of former Toronto city councillor Doug Ford and political newcomer Caroline Mulroney of false memberships and vote-rigging.

With a week until a new PC leader is elected, read Elizabeth Renzetti's profile of Ms. Mulroney, the lawyer, business executive and political neophyte who wants to lead a part in disarray, and catch up on the race with our explainer.

The Bloc Québécois, which recently saw seven of its 10 sitting MPs leave the caucus, is split between political pragmatists and hard-line separatists. Infighting between members doesn't show any sign of dying down. Leader Martine Ouellet, a former provincial cabinet minister and current provincial member of the National Assembly, is leading the separatist wing. The seven MPs are now sitting as independents. Although the Bloc's seat count has drastically declined in recent years they have still been receiving the support of around 20 per cent of Quebeckers in recent polls.

The Conservatives have failed in an attempt to force Justin Trudeau's national security to explain his assessment of how a would-be assassin ended up at two events with the Prime Minister during a trip to India last week. The Liberals defeated a motion before the national security committee to summon Daniel Jean to testify about his theory that factions in India were behind the furor over Jaspal Atwal's inclusion on the guest lists. Mr. Atwal  is a convicted attempted assassin and one-time Sikh separatist extremist.

The union that represents Canada's border guards hopes new funding in the federal budget aimed at preventing fentanyl from coming into the country will mean better screening. The budget devoted about $230-million over five years to fight the opioid crisis, including money for border enforcement, but Ottawa has been vague about what that means.

B.C.'s NDP government has suffered a setback as it implements its election platform after the province's utilities regulator rejected the government's request to freeze electricity rates. The New Democrats campaigned on a rate freeze and formally announced the policy last fall, but were criticized at the time for not acknowledging the government does not have the power to unilaterally set rates.

Alberta has wrapped up a series of meetings with survivors of the Sixties Scoop as the government prepares an apology and support for Indigenous people who were taken from their families as children.

Nova Scotia has introduced a bill to dissolve school boards in an overhaul of its education system. The piece of omnibus legislation was tabled after a province-funded report condemned Nova Scotia's school system and the teachers' union undertook an illegal strike action.

Saskatchewan is seeking federal funding for emission-reduction programs even though it says it will not sign onto Ottawa's national climate change plan that requires provinces to create a carbon pricing regime to tackle climate change.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has reinstated her chief of staff, Michael Balagus, after he was temporarily relieved of his duties over the handling of groping allegations against former Manitoba finance minister Stan Struthers. Women had complained of Mr. Struthers' behaviour to senior officials including Mr. Balagus and said they were told to "suck it up."

FBI counterintelligence services are investigating a business deal by Ivanka Trump. There's one catch though. The transaction under scrutiny? The Trump International Hotel and Tower in Vancouver. Like many other Trump properties, the Hotel is owned by a developer but the Trump Organization receives licensing and marketing fees. The Globe has previously reported that by successfully securing the deal, developer Joo Kim Tiah gained a degree of credibility and was made a major player in the city's development world. And one interesting quirk about the building itself is that there are technically only 63 floors but the Trump Organization marketed it as having 69 stories.

Mountain Equipment Co-op, commonly known as MEC, has dropped its brands linked to U.S. gun maker Vista Outdoor Inc. after a public outcry in the aftermath of the shooting in Parkland, Fla.

The U.S. says it plans to sell 210 anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, to help the Eastern European country defend its territory against aggression from Russia.

Venezuela, which has grappled with an economic crisis under increasingly authoritarian rule, has pushed back its presidential election to May 20 from April 22.

Carles Puigdemont, the exiled former regional president of Catalonia, is withdrawing his bid to reclaim his role.

Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail) on the Liberals and the Bloc: "Lots of francophone Quebec ridings witnessed three- and even four-way races in 2015. Liberal hopes of making gains in 2019 were based on the twin factors of Mr. Trudeau's popularity and the continued fracturing of support among the opposition parties. Neither is a sure thing now. The Liberals have always been the Bloc's nemesis. Ironically, its death would hurt Liberals most."

Lawrence Martin (The Globe and Mail) on working in the White House: "In addition to the departures from his communications team, Mr. Trump has lost a chief of staff, two deputy chiefs of staff, a national security adviser and two deputy national security advisers as well as chief strategist Steve Bannon. Many senior positions are open because the President never got around to filling them in the first place. Given the reputation the White House has gained for chaos, infighting and insecurity, the question of who might want to work there has become a pertinent one."

Aurel Braun (The Globe and Mail) on Putin's fire and fury: "His grand spectacles and international posturing cannot forever compensate for grave domestic shortcomings and the failure of Russia to truly join the modern world. At some point, the Russian people are bound to look behind the screens and they will find Mr. Putin to be a much smaller man than he claims."

Chantal Hébert (Toronto Star) on India and the budget: "Connect the dots between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's India adventure and Tuesday's budget and what you find is what was meant to be a pre-emptive one-two punch against the NDP."

Jennifer Rubin (Washington Post) on Trump's trade war: "The magnitude of the fallout from this move, if Trump doesn't change his mind again, may dwarf anything gained by deregulatory or tax moves that generally pleased the right. Incoherent, disruptive economic policy takes away from one of the justifications that Republicans used to stick with this president."

Help The Globe monitor political ads on Facebook: During an election campaign, you can expect to see a lot of political ads. But Facebook ads, unlike traditional media, can be targeted to specific users and only be seen by certain subsets of users, making the ads almost impossible to track. The Globe and Mail wants to report on how these ads are used, but we need to see the same ads Facebook users are seeing. Here is how you can help.