Senator Plett: You are right, leader. The track record for Canada on working with the United States has been exceptionally good, especially under the prime ministership of Brian Mulroney and Stephen Harper. To a lesser extent, Jean Chrétien got along fine with Bill Clinton. It’s this Prime Minister who is having a problem with the United States, now under two different presidents. We can no longer blame the previous president; he is having problems with this one.

When the Obama administration brought forward similar Buy America provisions in a stimulus package in 2009, the previous Conservative government worked diligently to secure an exemption. Thirteen years ago, in February 2010, we signed an agreement with the U.S., and Canada was the only country in the world to obtain an exemption.

In contrast, a few days after the Prime Minister and President Biden had their first face-to-face meeting, the U.S. doubled the softwood lumber tariffs. Two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced plans to extend these tariffs. As well, our seed potato farmers in Prince Edward Island still cannot export to the U.S. under Trudeau’s watch. I could go on, leader.

Why has the Trudeau government failed to move quickly on trade protectionism from this Biden administration?