(Adds Canadian foreign minister speaking to Paul Ryan, reportthat Canadian ambassador plans dinner with Trump's nationalsecurity adviser)
By Andrea Hopkins
OTTAWA, March 7 (Reuters) - Canada is sticking to itskeep-calm strategy as U.S. President Donald Trump ramps up tradewar rhetoric, convinced that no move is the best move for thecountry with the most to lose, but critics say it risks being asoft target if its strategy fails.
While the European Union immediately drew up a list of U.S.products from bourbon to blue jeans to hit if Trump followsthrough on a plan to impose global duties on aluminum and steel,Canada has gone with equivocation.
"We're going to make sure that we're doing everything weneed to do to protect Canadian workers, and that means waitingto see what the president actually does," Prime Minister JustinTrudeau told reporters on Wednesday.
Minutes after Trudeau , White House spokeswoman SarahSanders said Canada and Mexico, and possibly other countries,may be exempted from the planned tariffs on the basis ofnational security. sources said Foreign Minister Chrystia Freelandand other senior Canadian figures have made many calls to U.S.policy makers over the last few days.
Freeland spoke on Wednesday to House of RepresentativesSpeaker Paul Ryan, a prominent Republican critic of the tariffsproposal, said a Canadian government official. Trudeau himselfcalled Trump on Tuesday.
CTV news said Canada's ambassador to Washington would behaving dinner on Wednesday with White House national securityadviser H.R. McMaster. No one at the embassy was immediatelyavailable for comment.
From the outset, Trudeau has taken a decidedly sunnyapproach to the unpredictable president, launching an outreachcampaign to save NAFTA one encounter at a time with as many U.S.lawmakers, governors and administration officials as possible. Liberal government's approach is largely backed acrossthe political and business spectrum but pressure is building toabandon the measured tone.
"Trump has already treated China and Russia with more kidgloves than us. Why is that?" said John Weekes, Canada's chiefnegotiator for the original NAFTA deal.
Weekes said Canada should draw up a long list of possibletargets for retaliation, and publish it for public comment.
"I'd be the first to agree that retaliation is a mug's game,but how do we help our allies in the United States make the caseto change the course of policy?" he said.
Labor too, is demanding more action.
Jerry Dias, president of private-sector union Unifor, saidthe government's keep-calm approach had been the right one upuntil Trump's planned tariffs, but that Canada would look weakif it did not react.
"What are we supposed to do? They come after us oneverything. So we can just continue to be perceived as niceCanadians - when we get hit we say 'Thank you' - or we can say'enough is enough'" Dias told reporters on Wednesday.
A source familiar with Canadian government thinking saidretaliatory measures were "a live conversation going on at thismoment" and would be deployed if the tariffs are implemented.Trump has linked the tariffs with ongoing NAFTA negotiations. the divide-and-conquer strategy of the outreach tourin the United States, those close to the trade file say thatdealing with Trump brings its own imperatives.
"We have to keep calm. It's pointless talking in publicabout the ways you might retaliate until you have to act," saida second source familiar with the issue who spoke on thecondition of anonymity.
"As for people who stomp around and say 'We will strikeback' – why would you do that? It just irritates the president."