Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he supports imposing “corresponding” retaliatory tariffs on the United States if President Donald Trump hits Canada with sweeping 25 per cent tariffs as early as next week.
“If the president chooses to impose tariffs on Canada, Canada will respond and everything is on the table,” Trudeau said at a news conference Tuesday in Montebello, Quebec, where his team is gathered for a retreat two days from the office.
“I support the principle of dollar-for-dollar matching rates. “That’s something we’re absolutely going to look at if that’s how they move forward,” he told reporters.
Trudeau added that while his goal was to avoid tariffs, if Trump follows through on his plans, Canada’s response “will be robust, quick and measured, but very strong.”
Trudeau is gathering with his team in Montebello for the government’s annual cabinet winter retreat, which will be his last before he leaves in March.
Usually scheduled to coincide with the return of Parliament after the holidays, this year’s retreat is more focused on Canada-U.S. trade strategy.
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Shortly after winning the presidential race, Trump threatened in November to impose 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian products entering the United States unless Canada strengthened security at its borders. . The same threat was also made against Mexico.
From his first day in office, Trump said late Monday night that he planned to impose tariffs on the United States’ North American neighbors by February 1.
“We’re thinking in terms of 25 percent in Mexico and Canada because they’re allowing large numbers of people in, Canada is also a very bad consumer, large numbers of people in and fentanyl in,” said Trump.
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Monday evening that little changes, and the government has prepared responses to different possible scenarios that it has been examining for weeks.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada would continue to work to prevent tariffs, while preparing to retaliate if necessary. She warned last week of “the biggest trade war between Canada and the United States in decades. »
Trudeau said Canada is a “safe, secure and reliable” trading partner for the United States, especially when it comes to steel, aluminum, essential minerals and energy.
“Canada provides many of the necessary inputs that the U.S. economy will need to grow and prosper economically, whether it be energy, essential minerals, fertilizer or uranium,” he said. declared.
Trudeau added that the alternative for the United States for these resources would be Russia, China or Venezuela.
Trudeau said that if Trump makes good on his threat, “the goal would be to remove these tariffs as quickly as possible” and support Canadian businesses affected by the proposed measure.
An overwhelming majority (82 per cent) of Canadians think Ottawa should retaliate by imposing tariffs on U.S. imports into Canada, according to a report. poll conducted exclusively by Ipsos for Global News published Tuesday.
Among those polled by Ipsos, 55 percent said they thought Trump’s threat was just a bluff to get Canada to act quickly on other issues, like strengthening border security and increasing defense spending.
But Canadians also don’t believe the Trudeau government has the mandate to deal with Trump’s threats: 77 percent of those surveyed said an immediate general election was necessary to give the winner of that election the mandate to negotiate with the Americans.
— with files from David Akin of Global News and The Canadian Press
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