Canada aims for free internal trade that can offset any US tariffs, Carney says

TORONTO: Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday said Canada could offset the effects of any US tariffs by removing internal trade barriers and that he aimed for free trade within the country by July 1, after meeting provincial and territorial leaders.

“We are committing to table legislation by the 1st of July for goods to travel across the country... free of federal barriers,” Carney told reporters. “We can more than offset the effects of any US tariffs by eliminating internal trade barriers alone.”

Carney on his website cites research that found removing internal barriers would reduce trade costs by up to 15 per cent and expend the economy by 4.0 per cent to 8.0 per cent.

He said there were three main approaches to do this: harmonising regulations across provinces, provinces’ mutual recognition of rules and creating common national standards.

Business groups have long complained about trade barriers among the 10 provinces and three territories and a drawn-out permitting process that means it can take years to develop and build mines, oil pipelines and other major resource projects.

US President Donald Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports of steel and aluminium in March, with further tariffs to follow on April 2.

Canada sends 75 per cent of exports to the United States and a third of all imports come from its southern neighbour, leaving its economy vulnerable to a protracted trade war.

Carney, who recently became prime minister and is reportedly poised to announce on Sunday an election to take place in April, has yet to speak to Trump or lay out detailed plans on how he would deal with the president. The effort to reduce internal trade barriers would include removing labour mobility restrictions, Carney said.

To speed up approvals of major infrastructure projects, Carney said the government will create a “one-window approval process” that would eliminate duplicative requirements between federal and provincial environmental assessments. He also vowed that an oil and gas cap would limit emissions not production.