Milwaukee mayor says Carney 'escalated' Trump’s trade war
· Toronto Sun
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OTTAWA — Milwaukee’s mayor says Ottawa shares part of the blame for the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade war.
Part of a contingent of Great Lakes mayors urging both countries to return to the bargaining table, Mayor Cavalier Johnson told the Toronto Sun it’s imperative that both sides put their differences aside and hammer out an agreement for the sake of businesses and residents on either side of the border.
“The Cities Initiative is calling for the United States and Canada to get back to the negotiating table regarding the trade war that was started by President Trump and then escalated by the Canadian government and Prime Minister Carney,” Johnson said in an interview with the Sun .
Late last week, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative — a coalition of more than 400 American and Canadian communities — called for a resumption of trade talks.
Using last week’s U.S. midterm elections as a backdrop, the coalition said the results show that the high cost of living matters greatly to American voters. Ongoing trade tensions, it added, are doing little more than driving up costs for homes and businesses while harming regional economies.
The American and Canadian economies are so tightly intertwined and integrated, Johnson said, they “probably should just be one economy.”
“There’s so many jobs, industries that are on the line,” he added.
Coalition says time has come to find solutions
The region accounts for more than half of all Canada-U.S. trade, generating upwards of $12 trillion in economic output a year, according to the coalition.
Late last week, St. Catharines Mayor and Cities Initiative Chair Mat Siscoe issued a statement making the case for renewed negotiations. It was endorsed by the mayors of Laval, London and Montreal, Mississauga mayor-elect Alvin Tedjo and Toronto Coun. Paul Ainslie.
“Our manufacturers and businesses are already navigating the challenges of tariffs, rising costs and economic uncertainty,” Siscoe said in the statement.
“With the U.S. midterm elections behind us, the focus needs to be on finding solutions. Canada and the United States must return to the negotiating table and reach a lasting agreement that protects our workers, supports our businesses and strengthens our shared economic future.”
A similar statement was released by a group of American mayors, including Johnson, who said that Canada is Wisconsin’s largest trading partner.
Johnson said local businesses have told him how severely the trade war is impacting them and their workers.
“The tariffs, the challenges that we’ve had at the federal level in the United States and in Canada (are) having a direct effect on their ability to sell product,” he told the Sun.
“I think any mayor would want to see more products being sold, more people having great experiences in their city, more people travelling to their communities. That’s what I want to see in Milwaukee. But these tariffs and the trade war make it harder for us to be able to accomplish those goals.”
With last week’s vote handing the Democratic Party a majority in both the House and Senate, Johnson said the political environment is ripe for change.
“Given the result of the midterm election and the resounding repudiation of President Trump and his policies, I think you will see more Republicans starting to distance themselves from the president’s policies, including trade policy,” he said.
“We want our two governments to come back to the negotiating table to get a good deal in place so that all of our workers across our economy can have jobs.”