PDAC: Wilkinson presses critical minerals case

Canada’s energy and natural resources minister said the Trump administration must realize it could soon face taxed critical mineral exports from its northern neighbour in response to tariffs that began on Tuesday. The US depends on Canadian oil, nickel, zinc, uranium, potash and germanium – among other resources – to make steel, ships and planes, fuel power plants and grow food, Jonathan Wilkinson said at the Prospectors & Developers of Canada Association’s annual convention in Toronto. “When President Trump says he doesn’t need something from Canada, that’s just not true,” Wilkinson told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “And so looking at putting on either our own export tariffs or looking at other measures that would include deciding we’re going to sell some of those products elsewhere, those are fully on the table.”Trump triggers trade war with tariffs on Canada, China and MexicoAfter the US imposed 25% tariffs on most Canadian goods, and 10% on oil and minerals, Canada fired back with its own levies. Separate 25% duties on aluminum and steel are due March 12. The minister’s planned trip to meet this week in Washington with Doug Burgum, US Secretary of the Interior, was postponed, Wilkinson’s staff said Wednesday. The situation is fluid with President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau due to speak by phone Wednesday morning. Trump is to make an announcement Wednesday afternoon that might exempt the auto sector or contain reduced tariffs, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg News.The stunning move by the Trump administration to levy tariffs on its oldest ally and biggest trading partner when the continent has had a free trade agreement for more than 30 years has left Canadians bewildered but determined to fight back. While mining executives generally welcome a US President who’s keen to slash red tape and approve projects, the mood at PDAC was one of defiance against an irrational trade war.Tariff irony“With critical minerals, the option that the Americans have is to buy more from China, or it’s to buy more of some of them – the potash trade, in particular – from Russia,” Wilkinson said. “It’s hard to see how the measures that are being taken by the American president to a country that has historically been their closest friend and ally leads them down a path to purchasing more materials from their greatest adversaries.”Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday he would consider export taxes on nickel and electricity that could be around 25%. A day earlier, he suggested nickel could be stockpiled and sold in other markets. However, Minister Wilkinson and Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, couldn’t say exactly how these plans would work other than through federal-provincial cooperation. While provinces control extraction, Ottawa determines export policies.Wilkinson noted that Atlantic region giant Irving Oil raised prices for its US-bound fuels like gasoline and heating oil by 10% on Tuesday. Canadians have already begun making choices to replace American products like Kentucky bourbon and Florida orange juice, while US Republican Senators Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell and Paul Thune expressed opposition to the tariffs.“First and foremost, Americans are going to feel it at the pump and in their utility bills simply because of the tariffs that the President himself has imposed on American consumers,” Wilkinson said. “The first point of departure is to create domestic pressure, to get the administration to reflect on its decision.”Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com