By Spencer Van Dyk
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is promising Canada will “not back down” from the trade war, calling U.S. President Donald Trump’s stated reasoning for imposing punishing tariffs on Canadian imports a “bogus” excuse to justify collapsing the Canadian economy in the hopes of making it easier to annex the country.
Trump has imposed 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico, and a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian energy, after his 30-day reprieve on the measure expired.
“Today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend,” Trudeau told reporters on Parliament Hill on Tuesday. “At the same time, they’re talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense.”
“Canadians are reasonable, and we are polite, but we will not back down from a fight, not when our country and the wellbeing of everyone in it is at stake,” he added.
The president has insisted several times since November that the tariffs are aimed at stopping the flow of illegal migrants and drugs over the borders. But Trump has also since lauded the use of tariffs on their own merit, quadrupling down on his comments about making Canada the 51st state, saying he’s prepared to use “economic force” to make that a reality, and adding the levies could be avoided if Canada agreed to be annexed.
“Even the excuse that he’s giving for these tariffs today, of fentanyl, is completely bogus, completely unjustified, completely false,” Trudeau said. “So, we actually have to fold back on the one thing he has said repeatedly, that what he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy, because that’ll make it easier to annex us.”
With tariffs now in place on both sides of the border, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is signalling there could be room to negotiate and “work something out.”
In an interview with Fox Business on Tuesday afternoon, Lutnick said he’s been speaking with Canadians and Mexicans “all day” about measures they’re taking to address the flow of fentanyl, adding “the president’s listening.” “It’s not going to be a pause,” Lutnick said. “None of that pause stuff, but I think (Trump is) going to figure out, you do more and I’ll meet you in the middle some way and we’re going to probably be announcing that tomorrow.”
Appearing on CTV News Channel’s Power Play not long afterward, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly seemed to downplay the possibility of meeting “in the middle,” as Lutnick suggested.
“Before the U.S. launched its trade war, they didn’t have any communication with us… We’ll see what will happen in the State of Union speech of the president tonight before Congress, but let’s be frank, we’ve done the work at the border,” Joly told host Vassy Kapelos. “We’ve done everything to make sure that the Americans would be happy.” Joly said she has a call scheduled with Secretary of State Marco Rubio at noon Wednesday, but being “frank,” at the end of the day “the only person that really does a deal is the president, and the people around him are always trying to guess what he will do.”
She said while Canadian officials will continue to engage with Trump’s team, “none of them know exactly what the president wants.”
Canada hits back with countermeasures
Canada’s retaliatory tariff plan includes two phases, said to total $30 billion in U.S. goods in the immediate term. A further round of tariffs on a wider list of American products, valued at $125 billion, is expected to come into effect 21 days later, following a public comment period.
Trudeau first announced the plan last month, and restated Monday that it still stands.
“Now I want to speak directly to one specific American,” Trudeau also said Tuesday, flanked by Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Joly and Public Safety Minister David McGuinty.
“Donald. In the over eight years, you and I have worked together, we’ve done big things,” Trudeau said, addressing the U.S. president, and pointing to “historic” trade deals.The prime minister then said while he believes Trump is a “very smart guy,” inciting a trade war is “a very dumb thing to do.” According to Canada’s finance department, Canada’s retaliatory plan will see tariffs of 25 per cent on a slate of U.S. products, including food and booze, to toilet paper and motorcycles. It’ll also target clothing and footwear, accessories and undergarments, cosmetics, luggage, home wares, furniture and appliances, tobacco, lumber, paper and more.
Trudeau said Tuesday that while the federal government plans to challenge Trump’s “illegal actions” through claims both with the World Trade Organization and the trilateral trade agreement known as USMCA, Canada’s counter-measures will remain in place until American tariffs are withdrawn. As part Canada’s early efforts to stave off Trump’s tariff threats, Trudeau laid out a $1.3-billion border plan — which includes appointing a fentanyl czar and deploying additional personnel, drones, surveillance equipment and helicopters — along with other promises.
That plan, recommitted in an 11th-hour deal with Trump last month, helped secure the 30-day tariff reprieve, according to the prime minister.
In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Lutnick called the tariffs an “opioid-related tactic.” In an interview with CNN on Monday, he said: “The border was wide open. We needed to close it, and we want our trading partners to close it.”
Lutnick said while Canada and Mexico have “done a nice job on the border” in recent weeks, the progress hasn’t been enough to significantly reduce American overdose deaths from fentanyl.
“Let me be crystal clear: there is absolutely no justification or need whatsoever for these tariffs today,” Trudeau said Tuesday. “Now, the legal pretext your government is using to bring in these tariffs is that Canada is apparently unwilling to help in the fight against illegal fentanyl. Well, that is totally false.”…Source:ctvnews.ca/business
