Trudeau says US wants to collapse Canada’s economy with tariffs
BBC News, Toronto and London
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has slammed Donald Trump’s extensive tariffs on Canada, calling it “a very stupid thing” and vowed to engage in a “ruthless battle” to protect its economy.
Trump imposed a 25% tariff on products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico, and increased the imposition of goods from China.
The Canadian Prime Minister announced retaliation against tariffs on U.S. exports and warned that a trade war between the two countries would be expensive for both countries.
But Trump pushed a further push in an article on the Truth Society: “Please explain to Trudeau of Canada that our reciprocity tariffs will increase immediately when he imposes retaliatory tariffs on the United States!”
Trudeau accuses the U.S. president of planning for “a complete collapse of the Canadian economy because it will make it easier for us to annex us.”
“This will never happen. We will never be the 51st state,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“It’s time to try to strike and prove that there will be no winners in the fight against Canada.”
Canada’s main goal, he said, remains to raise tariffs so that “it won’t last a second longer than necessary.”
Trump said he is protecting U.S. jobs and manufacturing industries and trying to prevent illegal immigration and drug trafficking. The U.S. president said his goal is to cut the powerful opioid fentanyl. He blamed other countries for reaching the United States.
Trudeau responded to the allegations that there was no “reason” for the new tariffs, as less than 1% of fentanyl intercepted at the U.S. border came from Canada.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum praised Trudeau’s words, saying Trump’s move “has no motivation, no reason, no reason.” On Tuesday, she vowed to release her “tariff and non-tariff measures” but said further details on Sunday.
John Rogers, an economics professor at the American International University, said Trump’s tariffs could push up prices for consumers in the United States and abroad.
Professor Rogers said the items most likely to be affected are food – fruits, vegetables and other foods imported from Mexico – followed by large amounts of oil and gas imported from Canada.
Professor Rogers warned: “The price will rise soon.” Although he was reluctant to say exactly how much.
“We are in a very unknown territory,” he told the BBC.
Professor Rogers is even more worried about the potential damage he said to the long-term U.S. trading partners.
“It’s kind of like in the eyes of neighbors,” he said, adding that in the potential U.S. Canada-Mexico trade war, “everyone is a loser.”
The three countries targeting the United States are the highest trading partners, and the TIT-TAT measures have also raised concerns about the trade war.
Professor Rogers said: “You can’t win a trade war. Everyone suffers because everyone will only pay higher prices and sacrifice quality.”
Tariffs are taxes on imports from other countries, designed to prevent cheap competition elsewhere and promote business and work at home.
Canada’s retaliation measures include a 25% mutual tariff that will impose CAD 155 million ($10.7 billion; £84 billion) of U.S. goods:
- tariff c $30 billion in goods Will take effect immediately
- The remaining $115 billion tariffs on U.S. products will take effect within 21 days
Canada’s immigration minister Marc Miller warned that as many as one million jobs are at risk in Canada given the intertwined trade between the two countries.
“We can’t replace economies that cause 80% of trade overnight, and that will be hurt,” he said on Monday.
A car manufacturer in Ontario, Canada said in a speech to AFP news agency that people are indeed “very afraid” to be fired. “I just bought my first house,” said Joel Soleski. “I probably had to look for a job somewhere else.”
The industry could be severely affected by the new tariff regime in North America. During manufacturing, auto parts may cross the U.S. and Canada borders multiple times, so they may be taxed multiple times.
Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford, whose province is home to Canada’s automobile manufacturing industry Tell reporters On Tuesday, he expected assembly plants to “close sides of the border” due to tariffs.
Tariffs are called “reckless” by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and his President Candace Laing warned that the move would force Canada and the United States toward “recession, unemployment and economic disaster.”
Ms. Laing warned that they will also raise prices for Americans and force American businesses to find what she said is “not as reliable as Canadians.”
Canadian provincial leaders swear their response.
Ford, Ontario, has proposed the possibility of cutting Canadian electricity supply and high-end nickel exports to the U.S. and will impose a 25% export tax on electricity from electricity houses in Michigan, New York and Minnesota.
Canada exports enough electricity to power about 6 million U.S. homes.
Ontario and other provinces have also moved the wine we made on the shelves. In Nova Scotia, Prime Minister Tim Houston said his province would ban U.S. companies and Will Antario from bidding for provincial contracts.
Ford also announced that it will cancel its $100 million ($68 million; £55.1) contract with Elon Musk’s satellite internet company Starlink.
Meanwhile, China now faces a 20% tariff after Trump’s earlier taxation – vowing to fight a “painful ending.” It announced its own counter-assessment – including a range of tariffs on American agriculture and food.
