Trump’s tariff plan a mystery as cracks deepen in ‘Team Canada’ response

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said after meeting with elected officials in Washington that even most Republicans don't know what Trump is planning.

Exactly what U.S. president-elect Donald Trump plans to do with his tariff threat remains a mystery to Canadian officials and most Republicans, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Thursday.

Wilkinson spent several days in Washington, D.C., this week meeting with congressional Republicans as his government tries to limit the damage from Trump’s promise to sign an executive order Monday to hit Canada with 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on all exports to the United States.

Wilkinson said a very small group of officials is crafting Trump’s plans for executive orders.

“Even Republican senators and congresspeople and others who are quite close to the administration do not have a good read on exactly what the nature of a tariff might look like,” Wilkinson told reporters on the final day of his trip Thursday.

Wilkinson met with Republicans Kevin Cramer, Ted Cruz, Bruce Westerman and Chuck Fleischmann, as well as Democrat John Hickenlooper. The minister also had meetings with energy policy experts.

Wilkinson said he’s heard of three options being considered: 25 per cent tariffs, 10 per cent tariffs and a lower duty that ratchets up over time.

Trump initially said the tariffs were being imposed in response to drugs and illegal immigration crossing the shared border.

Ottawa responded with a $1.3-billion package to beef up the border, but Trump has since pivoted to citing the United States’ trade deficit with Canada.