Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that Canada would retaliate against the United States in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods.
Trump’s decision is based on his demand that Canada, Mexico, and China do more to stop the production and smuggling of fentanyl into the U.S. He has said he will impose 10% tariffs on Chinese goods and 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico.
“We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled,” Trump posted on Truth Social last week.
In response, Trudeau made it clear that Canada would not accept these actions. He announced that Canada would impose 25% tariffs on $155 billion worth of American goods if the U.S. tariffs go ahead.
“Today, after a 30-day pause, the United States administration has decided to proceed with imposing 25 percent tariffs on Canadian exports and 10 percent tariffs on Canadian energy,” Trudeau said in a statement. “Let me be unequivocally clear – there is no justification for these actions.”
Trudeau pointed out that only 1% of the fentanyl seized at U.S. borders comes from Canada.
“Canada will not let this unjustified decision go unanswered,” he added. “Should American tariffs come into effect tonight, Canada will, effective 12:01 a.m. EST tomorrow, respond with 25 per cent tariffs against $155 billion of American goods – starting with tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods immediately, and tariffs on the remaining $125 billion of American products in 21 days’ time.”
He also said that these tariffs would remain in place as long as the U.S. continues its tariffs on Canada.
“Because of the tariffs imposed by the U.S., Americans will pay more for groceries, gas, and cars, and potentially lose thousands of jobs,” Trudeau concluded. “Tariffs will disrupt an incredibly successful trading relationship. They will violate the very trade agreement that was negotiated by President Trump in his last term.”
Trump has claimed that tariffs are paid by the countries targeted, but in reality, the tariffs are paid by the importing companies. These companies usually raise prices for consumers to cover the added costs.
