It was a busy day for Canadian officials in Washington yesterday.

All 13 of Canada’s premiers travelled to the U.S. Capitol yesterday to impress on legislators the negative impact U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods will have on both sides of the border.

Chair of the Council of the Federation, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, didn’t sugar-coat how serious the situation will be if threatened tariffs come to fruition.

He says they will consider it a success if no tariffs are imposed on cross border trade. “I’m not too sure if they fully understand the impact on both countries,” Ford told reporters. “Inflation will happen, interest rates will go up, plants will be closed on both sides of the border.”

Federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc met with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick yesterday.

He says they got a better understanding of Lutnick’s decision-making process ahead of imposing possible international tariffs on April 1. “We also discussed obviously our concern around steel and aluminum tariffs and the President’s comments this week.”