Canada is examining retaliatory tariffs on certain items from the U.S. should Trump follow through on his threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday that if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on this threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products, he would be raising prices for Americans and hurting American business.
Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if the countries don’t stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across southern and northern borders. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders.
“It is important to understand that Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There’s no question about it,” Trudeau said to reporters in Prince Edward Island in Atlantic Canada.
“Our responsibility is to point out that he would not just be harming Canadians, who work so well with the United States, but he would actually be raising prices for Americans citizens as well and hurting American industry and business.”
Trudeau said Trump got elected because he promised to bring down the cost of groceries but now he’s talking about adding 25% to the cost of all kinds of products including potatoes from Prince Edward Island.
Those tariffs could essentially blow up the North American trade pact that Trump’s team negotiated during his initial term. Trudeau noted they were able to successfully re-negotiate the deal, which he calls a “win win” for both countries.
“We can work together as we did previously,” Trudeau said.
