Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre took aim at his Liberal opponent Thursday over his handling of the Canada-U.S. relationship, saying Mark Carney has so far "failed" to secure any tariff relief for Canada, even as other countries get something of a break.

Carney, meanwhile, said U.S. President Donald Trump's much-maligned "reciprocal" tariffs never applied to Canada in the first place, and he has agreed to sit down with the Americans right after this election — if he wins — to negotiate a comprehensive new economic and security agreement.

As part of his three-pronged tariff plan, Trump last week announced huge "reciprocal" tariffs on virtually every country in the world except Canada and Mexico. The fact that Canada dodged these particular tariffs was seen as a victory, and Carney called it progress and "the best of a series of bad deals."

On Wednesday, Trump relented and temporarily dialled back the more onerous tariff rates for 90 days after the stock market tanked amid the trade chaos.

"Other countries got a pause in tariffs while he failed to secure one here in Canada," Poilievre said of Carney during a housing announcement in Milton, Ont.

But Trump is still pushing ahead with a "reciprocal" 10 per cent tariff on goods coming from nearly every country — again, except Canada and Mexico, which were never hit by these particular tariffs — and a new, higher 125 per cent rate for all Chinese goods after that country retaliated.

"This, of course, happened after Prime Minister Carney boasted he had had a productive call with President Trump and that he had made 'progress.' What progress? There are more American tariffs on Canada today than there were when Prime Minister Carney took office, while dozens of other countries have secured pauses," Poilievre said.

 

Poilievre condemns Trump for keeping tariffs on Canada

Carney said this upcoming vote is "the most consequential election of our lifetime," and he's working hard to represent Canada in its negotiations with the U.S. over the future of the bilateral relationship.

"The stakes have never been higher," he said. 

Carney said he spoke with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, earlier Thursday and he is pressing for closer trade ties with like-minded, "reliable" allies now that the Canada-U.S. relationship is on shaky ground. 

Ask Louis Lafleur how he's feeling about American tariffs and his response comes quickly.

"Ask me how I feel about Canadian tariffs!"

Lafleur is the president of Les Boisés Lafleur, in Victoriaville, Que., 140 kilometres northeast of Montreal. The company makes wood veneers: thin sheets of a wide variety of species — maple, ash, eucalyptus — that are then applied to plywood used for countertops and furniture.

When talk of U.S. tariffs began shortly after the presidential inauguration last January, Lafleur started losing sleep. He exports three-quarters of his finished product to the U.S. and was dreading duties.

At first, his American clients, who were convinced tariffs wouldn't stay in place long, said they'd pay a little more to help absorb the hit.

The U.S. tariffs on his exports haven't materialized, but in February, before he left office, Justin Trudeau announced a counter-tariff on $30 billion worth of goods entering Canada from the U.S. — including the category of wood Lafleur uses for his veneers.

He imports all of his wood from the U.S., and he's been paying a 25 per cent duty on those imports since March 4.

"My clients are saying, 'now you're complaining because your government [adds] a tariff?' We look a little stupid," Lafleur says.

 

Quebec AM 12:51

Quebec manufacturers feeling pain from Canadian counter-tariffs

'Band-Aid on a broken bone'

Lafleur says he should be eligible for a duty drawback — a reimbursement for at least part of the money he's spending on counter-tariffs. But information isn't easy to find. He doesn't know how much he can count on or how long a request would take to process. In the meantime, he's playing it safe.

Les Boisés Lafleur would normally import six and a half truckloads of wood a month. Lafleur has only bought three since February.

"If I buy the wood and I don't get the money back, I'm going to lose a tremendous amount of money," he says.

   Les Boisés Lafleur is buying less wood from the U.S. to cope with the impact of a counter-tariff applied by Canada. (Susan Campbell/CBC)

Fewer wood deliveries will mean reduced production for Lafleur's company. He has started reducing the workforce by a varying number of workers each week, typically between three and six.

Lafleur applied for help under a federal program put in place in early March to help companies to keep their staff, by allowing employees to share work and qualify for EI. But he calls that "a Band-Aid on a broken bone." He doesn't see the logic in making Canadian companies pay a price in this trade war.

"When the Trump administration said we're going to put a tariff, everyone agreed that it would be very, very bad for them. And our reaction to that? To do the same!" he hammers.

Lafleur thinks the laying of counter-tariffs is more about a political show than about what's good for business.

A manufacturing economy on the edge

The mayor of Victoriaville, Antoine Tardif, is president of the regional economic development council, Destination Entreprise.

He says the local economy has been booming since the COVID-19 pandemic. But since the beginning of the tariff war, government agencies that fund local projects, like the Development Bank of Canada and Investissement Québec, are taking a step back.

The mayor of Victoriaville, Antoine Tardif, says the two pillars of Centre-du-Québec's economy — manufacturing and agriculture — are potentially in for a hit from American tariffs. He says it's already making people nervous. (Susan Campbell/CBC)

"They have a lot of projects on hold because of the uncertainty this creates," Tardif says. "The investments aren't going on and for the city, the revenues won't be coming in."

Tariffs have been top of mind since the beginning of the current federal election campaign, and the leaders of Canada's major political parties have maintained a common front on the necessity of counter-tariffs as a response to the American administration.

• This Sunday, Cross Country Checkup is asking: Market turmoil, tariffs and a possible recession — What do you stand to lose? What questions do you have about surviving it? Leave your comment here and we may read it or call you back for our show on April 13th.

But businessmen like Lafleur are not alone in questioning the government response. Speaking to CBC Quebec, Concordia economist Moshe Lander underlined how this trade war is playing out during a federal election campaign.

"You need to be constantly going in front of a microphone and expressing your outrage, expressing your frustration and to be seen to be doing something," Lander says.

"And this idea of 'let's retaliate back on them' is unfortunately the best political thing to do, but it's not good economics."

Economic worries top of mind for voters

Conversations with voters in the Richmond—Arthabaska riding, where Boisés Lafleur operates, suggest economic matters are top of mind.

On a break from his job at a local grocery store, Maxime Gagnon says it's taxes and the cost of living that he's thinking about — and he's made a choice.

"Pierre Poilievre seems more accurate when he talks about finances," Gagnon said of the Conservative Party leader.

Maxime Gagnon is worried about income taxes and rising prices. He's voting Conservative, because he feels they'll respond to his concerns. (Susan Campbell/CBC)

Jean-Yves Houle says he'll vote for the federal leader who's speaking to his concerns.

"It's poverty. We need to find a way to make people's lives easier," Houle says.

The riding is currently represented by Independent MP Alain Rayes, who left the Conservative Party in 2022.

Jean-Yves Houle worries for the next generation, as he watches grocery prices rise. (Susan Campbell/CBC)

Lafleur, for his part, isn't willing to wait until election day to see how parties respond to his company's current situation. He's laying the responsibility at the feet of the sitting government.

"We have Marc Carney, who's a non-elected prime minister and he's running to be an elected prime minister," Lafleur says.

''If by April 28 there's still a 25 per cent tariff, I know damn well who I won't vote for."

Residents of New Brunswick's tiny Campobello Island feeling held hostage by the tariff war between Canada and the U.S. can finally return to their cross-border shopping ways.

The federal Department of Finance has announced a special exemption on U.S. consumer and household products Campobello Island residents bring in from neighbouring Maine, "in recognition of the island's unique situation."

Campobello sits in the Bay of Fundy, connected to the mainland only by a bridge to Lubec, Maine, where residents get most of the groceries, gas and supplies that aren't available on the island.  

For more than a month, residents returning to Campobello have been paying the 25 per cent tariff that officers of the Canada Border Services Agency ask for.

Residents will no longer be charged 25 percent tariffs on goods purchased in Maine when they cross back over onto Campobello Island. (Allyson McCormack/CBC)

The tariff has been Canada's way of fighting back against U.S. tariffs and encouraging Canadians to spend their money at home. Islanders with limited options became collateral damage. 

"All of a sudden it removes the whole discomfort with the CBSA officers," said Campobello Island resident Zoltan Szoges, who was buying groceries in Lubec when CBC News told him about the announcement from Ottawa on Tuesday.

"This will be the la.st tariffed groceries going to Campobello."

Szoges said he had been calling government officials at all levels trying to plead the case for island residents but still was pleasantly surprised to hear the exemption was granted for the population of fewer than 1,000 people.

 

Shopping relief for Campobello residents

 

Campobello Island resident Zoltan Szoges got the news of the tariff exemption while grocery shopping in Lubec, Maine. He says the last month of tariffs at the Canadian border have been anxiety-inducing, and he’s pleased they’re finally coming to an end.

"I don't want to be in a weird, awkward standoff with government employees because I'm buying milk," he said. "I have anxiety, and dealing with unclear situations with border officers is not fun for me, right? And I'm sure it's also not fun for them to be charging their neighbours money that they didn't previously have to pay."

Szoges said the tariffs weren't just dividing Canadians and Americans, it was also polarizing for island residents.

"You have the people … who are like, 'Well, I'll just pay it, and it's my duty for the greater good.' And you have other families who are, you know, struggling dollar to dollar and 25 per cent even on some products is enough to be really detrimental. And all of a sudden those people are pitted against each other."

Harvey Matthews was also surprised to hear the news. As Campobello mayor, he didn't know the exemption was coming until he got a call from a reporter. He said he's used to that as a small-town mayor and said the important thing is that the residents know, and the people who work at customs.

Campobello mayor Harvey Matthews is pleased that islanders will now have an exemption on Canadian tariffs, and can come and go with ease. (Allyson McCormack/CBC)

He said the tariffs have been random, and he's glad people can now come and go "without being harassed."

"Just last week, my wife comes through and had to pay $34 in tariffs … on Canadian and Mexican goods." He said she paid it anyway "just to prove a point," about how flawed the tariffs were.

"I think it's certain officers, they charge it no matter what and then you get other ones that were using a little bit of discretion."

"I guess they all don't have to even worry about it, thankfully."

Ron Beckwith said you were never quite whether or not border agents would impose the tariffs. (Allyson McCormack/CBC)

Longtime Campobello resident Ron Beckwith said crossing the border this past month has been nerve-wracking, and you were "never quite sure where you stood from trip to trip."

"People have been very anxious about it, you know, not knowing from one trip to the next whether you were kind of going to trigger a reaction or whether you were going to be OK. Some of it depending on the temperament of the officer on duty."

It's been especially hard for seniors, he said, who aren't always able to make the hour-long drive through the state of Maine to cross back into Canada at the Calais-St. Stephen border to do their shopping there. 

He said it will also mean "a lot to our friends and neighbours in Lubec as well."

"Those businesses were suffering as a result of this as well, because people were slowing down their purchases in Lubec. Certainly the hardware store, I've heard that first hand …  And also with the grocery.

"So it's going to be welcome news on both sides of the border."