‘Unjustified’: Premier Fréchette denounces new U.S. tariffs
Posted July 21, 2026 7:35 am.
Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette denounced the latest round of tariffs by the U.S. announced on Monday.
Fréchette reacted to the tariff threats Monday afternoon before the U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to hammer certain Canadian products with 50 per cent tariffs, escalating trade tensions.
“The Trump administration’s new tariff threats are unjustified and concerning,” Fréchette said in a press release. “As for supply management, any weakening of the system is non-negotiable. We will defend it without compromise.”
The new tariffs are set to come into force in 30 days on a wide array of goods, ranging from hockey sticks to wine to cement.
A senior White House official, who spoke to reporters on background on condition they not be named, said the measure is a response to provincial bans on U.S. liquor, Canada’s supply managed dairy system and quotas on certain U.S. vehicles.
She added that she will discuss the situation with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the annual Summer Meeting of Canadian Provincial and Territorial Premiers, which will take place this week in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
“This is the worst possible time to add another layer of instability to Quebec’s economy, when our businesses need predictability,” explained Premier Fréchette.
The officials said that, unlike many of Trump’s other tariffs, the new duties will have no exemptions for goods compliant under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico-Agreement on trade, better known as CUSMA.
The officials said the new tariffs will not apply to energy, potash, fish, critical minerals or other goods already being slammed by Trump’s separate sector-specific tariffs.
Prime Minister Mark Carney responded to the tariffs, saying Canada will work relentlessly and take any measures necessary to build our strength at home and support Canadian workers, farmers, businesses and families.
“This trade dispute has raised costs for families, particularly in the U.S. Canada stands ready to engage intensively address outstanding issues with the U.S. to the mutual benefit of our citizens,” read his statement.
Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet, for his part, denounced “this additional, irrational, and harmful aggression on the part of Donald Trump.”
“Quebec’s industrial sector has suffered more from the tariffs than the rest of Canada, and the government must implement measures to support Quebec’s economy, as the Bloc Québécois has been demanding for over a year,” Blanchet stated in a press release.
“The new tariffs imposed by President Trump are an unjustified attack on our businesses and workers. Canadians should not have to pay the price for these decisions. Their concerns about their future have only grown. These tariffs must be suspended immediately,” the Conservative Party of Canada also said in a statement.
