BMO and Scotiabank CEOs said Trump's latest tariffs are manageable but urged Ottawa to accelerate interprovincial trade and energy projects. The tariffs hit 5% of Canada's exports.
The heads of two of Canada's largest banks said Tuesday that President Donald Trump's latest tariffs on Canadian goods are manageable, while urging Ottawa to accelerate interprovincial trade reforms and energy project approvals.
Bank of Montreal CEO Darryl White and Bank of Nova Scotia CEO Scott Thomson said the 50% tariffs Trump imposed last weekend on billions of dollars of Canadian goods will create uncertainty but are within the range the economy can absorb. The tariffs cover about 5% of Canada's annual exports to the U.S.
"I think it is important to remove the emotion from the topic and have a clinical lens," White said on a call with analysts. "There is an opportunity for the Canadian federal and provincial governments to recognize the moment for what it is and use it to drive transformational policy change… and not let this moment go to waste."
Trump has also threatened to double tariffs on some Canadian autos starting next year. Prime Minister Mark Carney has vowed to enforce retaliatory tariffs.
The federal government created the Major Projects Office last year to speed up construction of large infrastructure and resource projects that could reduce Canada's reliance on the U.S. economy. As an example, Ottawa last month approved a nickel mine in Ontario that is expected to be the largest nickel sulphide operation in the western hemisphere. Nickel is used in stainless steel and electric-vehicle batteries.
Mark Selby, CEO of the company developing that mine, said last month that the federal approval took a fraction of the time required by most big mining projects.
Thomson and White both framed the trade dispute as a catalyst for structural change rather than a crisis. Thomson said the tariffs reinforce the case for removing interprovincial trade barriers that have long been a drag on Canadian productivity. The two CEOs spoke on separate analyst calls Tuesday.
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