Will Canada and B.C. dodge a tariff bullet on Saturday?

Premier David Eby says 10 cabinet ministers will lead the response to Donald Trump's threatened tariffs – while the scope and start date remain unknown.

With the clock ticking down to Saturday’s threatened tariff deadline, U.S. President Donald Trump’s commerce secretary nominee suggested a possible last-minute reprieve.

“Shut your border and stop allowing fentanyl into our country,” Howard Lutnick said about Canada and the tariff threat Wednesday. “And if they execute it there will be no tariffs.”

In response, Canda’s Public Safety Minister David McGuinty highlighted Canada’s new $1.3 billion border security plan, and pointed to the fact that less than one per cent of fentanyl in the states comes through Canada.

“We’re going to continue to bear down on the border and on other issues to be able to deal with some of the problems,” said McGuinty Wednesday.

Still, the province is bracing for the threatened 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs to go ahead, and has established a cabinet committee to respond, headed up by Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister Ravi Kahlon.

“We cannot live four years with threats constantly coming from a Trump administration,” Kahlon told reporters Wednesday. “We have to walk away from this making our economy stronger and less reliant on the U.S.”

Michael Prince, a political scientist at the University of Victoria, says with Trump at the helm Canada should prepare for an unpredictable ride.

“He’s not a one-and-done kind of guy, so this trade issue or threat could hang over us for the whole four years of his term as president,” said Prince.

Canada’s premiers and the prime minister met Wednesday. The focus of their meeting was proposed federal retaliatory tariffs, if needed.

B.C. Premier David Eby pointed to the possibility of using the money raised by those counter measures to help those hammered by any U.S. tariffs.

“We’ve been very clear that that money needs to go right back to affected businesses and workers across the country – including right here in British Columbia,” said Eby.

For B.C.’s forestry sector, already facing 15 percent duties that are expected to double, financial relief to offset tariff harm is critical, says Brian Menzie, the head of the BC Independent Wood Processors Association.

“We’re kind of living in a waking nightmare at the moment,” he said Wednesday about the uncertainty. “Whatever package there is coming through, I hope its enough to save our industry.”