WASHINGTON \u2014 A top White House adviser said Canada becoming the 51st state remains a consideration following a meeting with premiers where the Canadian leaders were cautioned to take U.S. President Donald Trump at his word.<\/p>\n
The last-minute meeting with James Blair, deputy chief of staff, and Sergio Gor, director of the presidential personnel office, provided an opportunity for premiers to make Canada\u2019s case directly to top Trump aides.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey committed to share our message of willingness to engage and to work on key areas of agreement, and that Canada would never be the 51st state,\u201d said British Columbia Premier David Eby as he left the White House on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blair posted on social media that the meeting with the premiers was pleasant. But, he said, \u201cwe never agreed that Canada would not be the 51st state. We only agreed to share Premier Eby\u2019s comments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFurther, we said the best way to understand President Trump\u2019s position is to take what he says at face value,\u201d Blair said<\/p>\n
All 13 premiers descended on the United States capital this week for the first time ever. The diplomatic push reflects rising alarm among Canadians about Trump\u2019s unpredictable tariff strategy.<\/p>\n
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday\u2019s meeting was \u201cvery constructive.\u201d Premiers were advised to continue conversations after key members are sworn in, including the president\u2019s nominee to run the Commerce Department, Howard Lutnick, and Trump\u2019s pick for top trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re grateful. We listened. We communicated and we look forward to further conversations,\u201d Ford said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump returned to the White House less than a month ago with a tariff agenda that could rapidly realign global trade. Canada has been unable to escape the geopolitical upheaval triggered by its closest neighbour and largest trading partner.<\/p>\n
Trump signed an order Monday that would impose 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, including imports from Canada, on March 12. Those duties could come on top of across-the-board tariffs on all Canadian imports, with a lower 10 per cent levy on Canadian energy, which were delayed until at least March 4.<\/p>\n
A White House official confirmed that if both rounds of tariffs are implemented, the duties would stack on top of each other. That would mean a tariff of up to 50 per cent on Canadian steel and aluminum exports to the U.S.<\/p>\n
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Wednesday that steel and aluminum tariffs may increase further and claimed the duties will \u201clevel the playing field.\u201d<\/p>\n
The president also indicated that an executive order for \u201creciprocal tariffs\u201d will come this week. That would require that U.S. tariffs on imports match the tax rates charged by other countries.<\/p>\n
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc was also in Washington Wednesday, where he was set to meet Lutnick and Trump\u2019s economic policy adviser Kevin Hassett at the White House. LeBlanc insisted there\u2019s still time to talk Trump out of launching a trade war.\u00a0<\/p>\n
LeBlanc first met Lutnick in November at Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida after he and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled there for a dinner with the president-elect just a few days after he made his initial tariff threat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not pessimistic,\u201d LeBlanc told reporters ahead of the meeting. \u201cI\u2019m optimistic by nature. I\u2019m encouraged by the conversations we\u2019ve had with Mr. Lutnick.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canada has promised to retaliate in kind if Trump moves on his promise of tariffs, and laid out a list of products that would be targeted after the president signed his initial executive order on duties on Feb. 1.<\/p>\n
Ottawa put those retaliatory tariffs on hold two days later when Trump agreed to pause his tariff threat for a month, and after Trudeau outlined Canada\u2019s plan to ramp up border security and appoint a fentanyl czar.<\/p>\n
LeBlanc said Ottawa will not make the first move in a tariff war because it\u2019s not a fight Canada wants.<\/p>\n
Trudeau \u2014 speaking in Brussels, where he was meeting with European Union leaders \u2014 said there is a third threat of even more tariffs landing April 1 coming out of the executive order Trump signed on inauguration day looking at economic and trade imbalances between the two countries.<\/p>\n
Trump has also floated the idea of taxing Canadian auto imports at between 50 and 100 per cent.<\/p>\n
Provincial and territorial leaders remained optimistic Wednesday that diplomatic efforts can still push Trump away from implementing duties even as snowstorm forecasts compelled Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King and Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston to go home early.<\/p>\n
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said it\u2019s not a time to be issuing ultimatums and instead called the premiers\u2019 mission in Washington a \u201ccharm offensive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe purpose of the trip here is diplomacy,\u201d Kinew said. \u201cIt\u2019s the warm and hearty handshake, making the case that the Canadian-American friendship has been the best in the world for decades and decades.\u201d<\/p>\n
The premiers met with Republican and Democrat lawmakers before heading to the White House. New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said they explained the negative impacts tariffs will have on both Canadians and Americans.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen senators feel directly how it\u2019s impacting their constituents and they have a lot of fear about the inflation and the price impacts to come, should these tariffs come to pass,\u201d Holt said.<\/p>\n
Experts have said that Trump\u2019s tariff threats are likely a negotiating tactic meant to rattle Canada and Mexico ahead of a 2026 review of the trilateral continental trade pact.<\/p>\n
The Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement was negotiated to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement during the first Trump administration.<\/p>\n
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she believed the president when he said the first tariff threats were about border security and fentanyl, and she thinks Canada\u2019s actions should satisfy Trump\u2019s concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think diplomacy is working,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI think that the fact that we got a 30-day reprieve was because we agreed to work on the cross-border problem of fentanyl.\u201d<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s tariff order was about the trade agreement, Smith said. She said Canada needs a federal election soon so that it has a mandate to return to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019ve seen from this president is he\u2019s prepared to make a deal,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
\u00a92025 The Canadian Press<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"-\"](\"https:\/\/cc-production-uploads-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/02\/600X350_New2.png\")
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