AP SETS THE STANDARD FOR POLITICAL REPOR
Trudeau says Americans understand Trump's tariffs on Canada will make life much more expensive.
TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that Americans are "starting to wake up to the real reality that tariffs on everything coming from Canada are going to make life much more expensive" and said he would back down if Donald Trump. moves forward with the tariffs.
Trump then responded by calling Canada a country and Trudeau a governor.
At an event hosted by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, Trudeau also said that facing Trump will be "a little bit more difficult" than last time because Trump's team is coming in with a much bigger set of clear ideas about what it wants to do immediately after its first election victory in 2016.
The U.S. president-elect has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on all goods entering the United States from Canada and Mexico unless they stop the flow of immigrants and drugs. "Trump was elected on a promise to make life better and more affordable for Americans, and I think people south of the border are starting to wake up and realize that tariffs on everything coming from Canada are going to make life a lot more expensive," Trudeau said. .
Over the weekend, Trump appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," where the president-elect said he couldn't guarantee that the tariffs he has promised on major U.S. trading partners wouldn't raise prices for American consumers.
"We're not going to do it to ourselves, in any shape or form, 25% tariffs on everything coming into the U.S. would be devastating to the Canadian economy," Trudeau said.
"It would also mean real hardship for Americans. Americans import 65% of their crude oil from Canada, a significant amount of electricity. Almost all of the natural gas exported from Canada goes to the United States." They rely on us for steel and aluminum. They rely on us for a variety of agricultural imports. All of these things are going to get more expensive."
Trump appeared to respond to Trudeau's comments with a post on social media late Monday in which he referenced Trudeau's recent dinner at Mar-a-Lago, where some say Trump joked about Canada becoming the 51st country.
"It was a pleasure having dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada. I look forward to meeting the Governor again soon so that we can continue our in-depth discussions on tariffs and trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for all of us! DJT," Trump posted on Social Truth. If Trump follows through on his threat to impose 25% tariffs on everything imported from Mexico and Canada, the price hikes that could follow would run counter to his campaign promise to give American families some relief from inflation.
Economists say businesses will have no choice but to pass on the extra costs, dramatically increasing the prices of food, clothing, cars, alcohol and other goods.
The Produce Distributors Association, a Washington-based trade group, said the tariffs would drive up the prices of fresh fruits and vegetables and hurt American farmers as countries sell out.
"Of course, as we did eight years ago, we will respond to unfair tariffs," Trudeau said.
Trudeau said his government was still considering the "appropriate ways" to respond, referring to when Canada imposed billions in new tariffs on the United States in 2018 in response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum. Many American products were targeted for their political influence rather than their economic impact. For example, Canada imports just $3 million worth of yogurt from the United States each year, most of which comes from a factory in Wisconsin, the home state of the then-Republican representatives in the House of Representatives. That product was subject to a 10% tax.
"We have imposed tariffs on bourbon, Harley-Davidson, playing cards, Heinz ketchup, cherries and a number of other products that have been carefully targeted because they have political influence in the president's party and his colleagues," Trudeau said.
Trudeau said that when Trump says things, he means them, but they also know that Trump is trying to inject uncertainty and "a little bit of chaos" into democracy. "One of the most important things to do is not to panic, not to panic," Trudeau said.
"Knowing that these steps will be absolutely devastating, we have to take them seriously, but that means we have to be thoughtful and strategic and not just present the opposing arguments for them, but present our arguments in a meaningful and coherent way."
Canadian officials have said it is unfair to lump Canada and Mexico together.
U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared to 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border.
Most of the fentanyl that comes into the United States — where it causes about 70,000 overdose deaths each year — is produced by Mexican drug cartels using precursor chemicals smuggled from Asia.
On the immigration front, the U.S. Border Patrol reported 1.53 million encounters with undocumented migrants at the southwest border with Mexico. between October 2023 and September 2024. This compares to 23,721 border clashes with Canada during that period.
Trump also claimed that the United States "subsidizes Canada to the tune of over $100 billion a year."
On the U.S. trade deficit, Canada's ambassador to Washington, Kirsten Hillman, told the AP that the United States had a $75 billion trade deficit with Canada last year, but noted that a third of what Canada sells to the United States is energy exports, and prices are high.
About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports come from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports also come from Canada.
Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the United States and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager to acquire and invest in for national security.
Nearly $3.6 billion ($2.7 billion) in goods and services cross the border every day. Canada is the top export destination for 36 US states.
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