Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday responded to Donald Trump‘s suggestion of annexing Canada and said that the United States President-elect’s comments are a distraction from the potential impact of proposed tariffs on Canadian goods.
Trump threatened 25% tariffs on all Canadian imports unless Canada increases border security. He also mentioned considering economic force to acquire Canada.
In an interview to CNN, Trudeau responded to Trump’s comments on ‘Canada as 51st state of US’ and said, “Ya that is not going to happen. Canadians are incredibly proud of being Canadians. One of the ways we define ourselves most easily is, well, we’re not American. There is such a depth of pride that that is not actually an issue.”
“What I think is happening in this is President Trump, who is a very skillful negotiator, is getting people to be somewhat distracted by that conversation on tariffs,” he added.
Trudeau explained that American consumers would face higher prices on various Canadian products, including oil, gas, electricity, steel, aluminum, lumber, and concrete, if the tariffs are implemented.
Trudeau reaffirmed Canada’s opposition to joining the US and said Canada would retaliate with counter-tariffs if necessary. He cited a 2018 trade dispute where Canada placed tariffs on US products like Heinz ketchup, playing cards, bourbon, and Harley Davidson motorcycles.
Did the re-election of Trump and this direct confrontation play any role at all in Trudeau resigning?
“No, on the contrary, what we did in Trump’s first Presidency was that we worked together in very challenging situations to come out with a strong win-win in US-Canada relations. We saw opportunities grow, wealth grow
Working together is what we did something in the past and what I expect to do for the next two months while I remain in office,” responded Trudeau.
He explained such tariffs “hurt American workers and added “but we don’t want to do that because it drives up prices for Canadians and it harms our closest trading partner.”
