Trudeau tells Trump that tariffs are ‘very dumb’, says Canada is striking back
The prime minister says Canadians are polite, but ‘will not back down’ now that US has launched trade war
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told US President Donald Trump on Tuesday that his tariffs on Canadian imports were “a very dumb thing to do” and said Ottawa was striking back immediately at its closest ally.
Trudeau, speaking hours after Trump launched a trade war against Mexico and Canada, announced immediate 25 per cent tariffs on C$30 billion (US$20.8) worth of US imports. If need be, Canada will target another C$125 billion worth in 21 days’ time.
“There is absolutely no justification or need whatsoever for these tariffs,” Trudeau told reporters, adding that Canada would challenge the US measures at the World Trade Organization and through the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
“Canadians are reasonable and we are polite, but we will not back down from a fight, not when our country and the well-being of everyone in it is at stake,” he said.
Trump declared Canada had failed to do enough to stem the flow of the deadly fentanyl opioid and its precursor chemicals into the US, an argument Trudeau called “completely bogus, completely unjustified, completely false”.
Trudeau’s relations with Trump, which have never been warm, deteriorated in recent months after the president repeatedly referred to Canada becoming the 51st US state and not being a viable country.
