Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has stated that his nation will remain steadfast in its reaction to the trade war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Trudeau condemned the current trade conflict between Canada and the U.S., stating that there is no valid reason for it. He confirmed that Canada would oppose Trump's trade actions, as reported by Xinhua news agency.
"Today, America has embarked on a trade war against Canada—its closest ally, partner, and friend," Trudeau said, reaffirming his government's threat of retaliation.
Canada retaliated with the first tranche of tariffs amounting to 30 billion Canadian dollars ($21 billion) on American products, with a further 125 billion Canadian dollars in potential additional tariffs to be imposed in 21 days.
Trudeau cautioned that American households—and Trump himself—would eventually feel the ill effects of these tariffs. Speaking directly to Trump, he labeled the decision "a very dumb thing to do."
The Canadian prime minister continued by accusing Trump of trying to destabilize Canada's economy, implying that the U.S. President's belligerent action was part of a larger game.
"He does not want to see the Canadian economy collapse," Trudeau charged. "Because that would make it easier to annex—this is his true intention. But that is never, ever going to happen."
Trudeau also rejected Trump's suggestion that the tariffs were imposed because fentanyl is coming into the U.S. from Canada as an "unjustified and false excuse."
In a bid to respond to the American complaints, Canadian leaders had spent the last month engaging in diplomatic talks aimed at avoiding the tariffs. These included hiring a new "fentanyl czar" and labelling Mexican cartels as terror groups.
In response to these moves, Trump continued with his trade policy. He signed an executive order on February 1 imposing a 25% tariff on Mexican and Canadian imports, as well as a further 10% tariff increase targeting specifically Canadian energy products.
Trump temporarily postponed the imposition of the new tariffs for a month on Feb. 3 in order to continue negotiations, but he confirmed Monday that the tariffs of 25% on Mexico and Canada would indeed go into effect on Tuesday, March 4.
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