Conservative MP asks Liberals if 'elbows up' tariff response was 'simply fake news'

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OTTAWA — Now you see them, now you don’t.

The Conservatives kept pressing the government on Canada’s counter-tariffs during question period Monday, which many observers were surprised to see had largely vanished in the weeks and months since U.S. President Donald Trump launched his trade war against Canada.

“The prime minister ran on ‘elbows up,’ promising dollar-for-dollar tariffs on the U.S. and promising this would generate $20 billion in revenue,” said Dufferin–Caledon MP Kyle Seeback.

“It turns out it was actually ‘elbows down’ and the prime minister broke his promise and secretly cancelled those tariffs. Now Trump is threatening 50% tariffs on Canadian steel, which will devastate Canada’s steel industry and put thousands of steel workers out of a job. Can the prime minister look steel workers in the eye, tell them it wasn’t actually ‘elbows down’ and tell them how much money his tariffs will actually generate?”

A report issued last month by U.K.-based advisory firm Oxford Economics revealed that — despite the trade war taking centre stage in all parties’ election platforms — Canada quietly walked back nearly all of its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products with roll-backs, exemptions and breaks resulting in a “near-zero” tariff rate increase on U.S. imports.

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Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne offered no direct response to Seeback’s question, instead shouting that the Mark Carney Liberals intend build a “prosperous Canada.”

Seeback pointed out Champagne’s non-answer by comparing Carney’s cabinet to that of his predecessor.

“‘Elbows up’ was dollar-for-dollar tariffs,” he said.

“Has the prime minister already broken his promise to steel workers or was ‘elbows up’ simply fake news?”

Industry Minister Melanie Joly said she spent the weekend contacting industry and union leaders, and promised to protect Canadian jobs.

“In order to be in solution mode, Mr. Speaker, we will ensure that Canadian steel and aluminum is used in our major infrastructure projects,” she said.

Repeated attempts by the opposition to get the Liberals to provide clarity on counter-tariff revenue proved fruitless.

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume