The premier says it’s clear to him following discussions with officials in the United States, that Donald Trump is very serious about his threats to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods heading south of the border.

Premier Andrew Furey was part of a Canadian delegation that travelled to Washington for the inauguration and to meet with American legislators and business leaders to plead this province’s – and the country’s – case.

Furey says conversation with officials in the U.S. has proven to him that President Trump is deciding to forge ahead despite educated warnings from experts.

“Despite prominent CEOs, prominent business leaders, prominent economists trying to influence him and inform him that this is not going to work, it’s not going to lower prices for consumers in the United States, he seems to have fully subscribed to the opinion that tariffs will raise revenues for the United States and will have no negative impact on families, and the cost of living and services. We know that not to be true,” Furey told VOCM News.

The Premier says Hoover tried to do the same during the Great Depression and it only made things worse in the U.S.

In the meantime, questions have been raised about Furey’s presence at Monday’s inauguration in light of Trump’s hardline approach to illegal immigration and 2SLGBTQI+ rights, Furey says his being there was in no way an endorsement of Trump’s beliefs and policies.

“Let me be very clear, it cannot be, it will not be, personally nor politically, an endorsement of the President of the United States, nor his values or his style of politics,” says Furey.

“I was there on behalf of the workers in Newfoundland and Labrador. This could impact 10,000 to 20,000 workers directly,” in this province says Furey, not to mention the indirect jobs that will also be affected.