Following in the footsteps of the provincial premiers, the mayors of Quebec’s three largest cities will be heading to Washington in the hope of convincing the Trump administration to back down on tariffs.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand and Laval Mayor Stéphane Boyer will be in the U.S. capital this week to take part in the Alliance of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities' “Great Lakes Day”.
At this event, around 30 mayors from Canadian and American cities will discuss ways of forging ties between them.
However, this week’s meeting will take place in a special context, due to the tariff war between Canada and the United States.
Twenty-five per cent tariffs on Canadian products went into effect in the U.S. on Tuesday, and Canada has also begun to fight back. Only Canadian energy is targeted by a lower tariff, at 10 per cent.
According to Mayor Plante, the mission to Washington will be an opportunity for Quebec and Canadian cities to warn American leaders that the tariff war will have repercussions for them too.
“The citizens of both countries will suffer the consequences of this economic war, and it is our duty as cities to do everything in our power to preserve as many ties with our allies as possible,” she maintained on Tuesday in a news release issued on the eve of the start of the mission.
“Tariffs represent a danger not only to the Canadian economy, but also to the U.S. economy, creating inflation on both sides of the border and disruptions to supply and production chains,” she added.
For his part, Marchand felt that this mission to Washington would be “crucial” given the current political context.
“We intend to make the case to U.S. elected officials on Capitol Hill about how the imposition of tariffs on our products will greatly affect Americans, both through higher prices for goods and, in the event of counter-tariffs, losses for the U.S. economy,” he said.
In Laval, hundreds of jobs are at risk as a result of the tariff war, warned Boyer.
“The tariff issue is worrisome,” he acknowledged. “So we’re going to collaborate on initiatives to preserve trade on both sides of the border.”
Another attempt
For over a month, Canada has been stepping up diplomatic efforts to remind U.S. elected officials that the harmful effects of tariffs will also be felt south of the border.
Numerous federal ministers have been in Washington in recent weeks, while the premiers of the provinces and territories went there in mid-January for a meeting of the Council of the Federation.
After a visit to the U.S. capital, federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly said that several of her interlocutors had been “surprised” to discover how much the U.S. economy could be affected by a tariff war.
However, she conceded that “when it comes to working with President Trump, we know that he is the ultimate decision-maker.”
Canada’s response to the tariffs includes a surtax on $30 billion of goods immediately, and tariffs on the remaining $125 billion of U.S. goods 21 days later.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 4, 2025.
