Sask. premier says upcoming Washington trip will tout benefits of economic cooperation over tariffs

Sask. Premier Scott Moe on his upcoming trip to Washington to talk trade/tariffs with U.S. lawmakers and if its time to revisit a national west-east pipeline.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he’s heading to Washington Sunday with a simple message — what’s good for this province’s export-dependent economy is good for the United States.

Moe is part of a group he dubbed the Saskatchewan Task Force heading to the U.S. capital as Canada’s provincial governments work to prevent President Donald Trump from imposing a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods and a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian energy.

On Tuesday, Trump delayed imposing the tariffs on both Canada and Mexico for 30 days after speaking with the leaders of both nations.

“Our message is going to be that our opportunities and economies are just so much greater [when they work] together,” Moe told CTV Morning Live on Friday. “This has been the message on every trip that I’ve been to in Washington over the last number of years, even up to and including the previous Trump administration.”

Moe said the Minister of Trade and Export Development Warren Kaeding has been meeting with business groups and organizations in industries that export to the U.S. as they also work to expand and further diversify exports.

“So that Team Saskatchewan effort is happening and there has been many delegations on the ground already of Saskatchewan industries in Washington D.C., up to and leading to next week when we will be there alongside them,” Moe said.

Moe said the group will be speaking to members of the Trump administration and governors from across the U.S. along with senators and congressmen.

He also suspects they will return to Washington more than once in the coming months.

Per capita, Saskatchewan is the highest exporting province in Canada, Moe said.

According to the province, Saskatchewan’s largest and most important trading partner is the U.S., as about $40 billion worth of imports and exports cross the border each year.

The current tariff-free border allows businesses to add value to products and economies in both Canada and the U.S., the province added.

“The message that we will bring to the U.S. administration is just how integrated our economies are, whether it’s agriculture, whether it’s energy, whether it’s the mining industry or whether it’s even the retail and sectors that we see in our urban centres,” Moe said.

Moe admits that getting their message to resonate will take some work and noted two important conversations that will be taking place.

“The first is centered around border security and drugs and fentanyl. I think we as Canadians can all get behind removing this poison from our communities,” Moe said. He also said the conversations will lead into one about a renegotiated trade agreement between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

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“The rhetoric that we are hearing unfortunately south of the border may continue for some time and I encourage Saskatchewan residents and Canadians to keep the long view in mind,” Moe said adding that there is a great historic economic partnership in North America.

“And we’ll get back to it at some point in the future and that needs to be our focus.”

With the initial reasoning for Trump’s tariffs being border security Moe suggested that the border between Canada and the U.S is secure and has even become safer in the past few months.

“That being said, I think we all have a role to play in keeping things like fentanyl out of our communities wherever we live in North America, and it’s an opportunity I think for us as a Canadian government and provincial governments to have a look in the mirror and make sure we do all we can on behalf of the folks we represent,” Moe said.

Moe will also travel to Mexico next week to speak with exporters and further promote the trading of products.

Read more on Trump’s proposed tariffs here.

-With files from The Canadian Press