Canadian leaders 'united' following P.E.I.'s 'positive' trip to U.S., premier says

Premier Dennis King is back on Prince Edward Island after visiting the northeastern United States and Ottawa this week to discuss president-elect Donald Trump's threat of 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian exports. 

"The efforts we put forward with our trade mission and with our Island delegation down to the northeast of the U.S. was positive," King told CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin on Thursday. 

"I think we left a really good taste in the mouths of Americans with our desire to continue our trade relationship unobstructed and uninterrupted."

On the heels of that trip, King met with the premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who he said are "united as a country."

King said Canadian leaders share the hope that they can avoid tariffs altogether, but they did discuss what Canada can do as a country to retaliate if necessary. 

"I think everybody would be in agreement around that table that we don't want to retaliate," he said. "A trade war doesn't benefit Canada, doesn't benefit the U.S. It actually benefits countries like China and others, which nobody should want."

Canada's goal is to identify the areas where "the United States needs to leverage from us for their day-to-day success," King said.

For P.E.I., those areas include agriculture, seafood, bioscience and aerospace, King said.

But those retaliatory ideas are all still hypothetical, he said.

"There was never a conversation about 'this is what we're going to do and when,' he said. "Let's get ready and hope we don't ever have to use the bullets that we're putting in our chamber." 

Under the Team Canada banner, there's a notion that "if everything is on the table, everything is on the table," King said, adding there will need to be further conversations to figure out how that breaks down, particularly if one jurisdiction is more affected than others.

While Alberta Premier Danielle Smith did not sign the joint communique signed by all the other provincial leaders after they met in Ottawa, King said he doesn't think it's fair to interpret that as meaning she doesn't support retaliatory action. 

"There is going to be continuing conversation from all premiers," he said.

While the leaders discussed possibilities, King said it's hard to know what will happen come Monday, when president-elect Donald Trump will officially be sworn in as president.