Premiers rally behind Carney, but not everyone is confident a tariff deal is close

Canada's premiers say they're behind the federal government as it tries to talk down U.S. President Donald Trump from his escalated trade war -- although not everyone at the table is feeling confident that will happen soon. The premiers' annual summer meeting was thrown a curveball on Monday when Washington announced that it will impose 50 per cent tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of Canadian imports come Aug. 19. The U.S. said the new tariffs are in response to what it sees as Canada's retaliation against American trade policy and discrimination against its motor vehicles, dairy and alcohol. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said he's feeling 'positive and bullish' that the two sides can reach an agreement in the short term. 'However, I'm not entirely confident that we will,' he said, during the closing news conference of the Council of the Federation meetings on Wednesday. 'Nothing unites like a common opponent and there's no more popular opponent in Canada right now than Donald Trump,' said Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Canada should withhold its potash and oil. 'We are an energy powerhouse and we could dismantle the U.S. if we wanted to,' he said, adding he's only speaking for Ontario. 'They need to feel the pain rather than us constantly feeling the pain.' British Columbia Premier David Eby floated cutting off access to minerals, saying it's 'inexplicable' to him that the U.S. announced tariffs not long after he hosted a mining roundtable with their ambassador. But Smith and Moe flatly rejected the idea of using energy exports as leverage. 'That's not going to happen,' Smith said on Tuesday. Eby had previously said there is 'not a chance in hell' that US alcohol would go back on shelves in British Columbia.