‘Canada will not let this unjustified decision go unanswered,’ Trudeau said on Monday evening
‘Canada will not let this unjustified decision go unanswered,’ Trudeau said on Monday evening
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said U.S. President Donald Trump’s goal with 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian products is the “total collapse” of Canada’s economy in order to annex the country.
In a fiery speech on the morning the U.S. tariffs and retaliatory Canadian tariffs kicked in, Trudeau said the Trump’s decision to launch a trade war was a “really dumb thing to do” as he promised to expand Employment Insurance (EI) benefits and provide direct support to businesses affected by the historic trade war.
“It’s not in my habit to agree with the Wall Street Journal, but Donald, they point out that even though you’re a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do,” Trudeau said to Trump
“There are no winners in a trade war,” he added, warning Canadians and Americans that it will be “tough” on everyone.
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An order by U.S. President Donald Trump placing a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian energy and a 25 per cent levy on all other imports came into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Tuesday. As the American tariffs kicked in, Canada responded with a first wave of retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods immediately and a second wave of tariffs on $125 billion on American products within 21 days.
Trump has identified the flow of fentanyl and migrants over the American borders with Mexico and Canada as the reason for the tariffs and has urged action from both countries to beef up security at border crossings. Canadian officials have argued that less than one per cent of the fentanyl entering the U.S. flows over the country’s border with Canada, but have nonetheless tried to assuage Trump’s concerns.
Tuesday, Trudeau said for the first time publicly that Trump’s legal pretexts for the tariffs are “completely false” and that his ultimate goal is the collapse of the Canadian economy to facilitate annexation into the U.S.
“The one thing he has said repeatedly that what he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy because that will make it easier to annex us,” Trudeau said of Trump.
“That’s never going to happen. We will never be the 51st state. But yeah, he can do damage to the Canadian economy, and he started this morning, but he is rapidly going to find out, as American families are going to find out, that that’s going to hurt people on both sides of the border,” he added.
Tuesday afternoon, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Trump had “stabbed America’s best friend in the back” and called on the government to use the tariff money to compensate affected workers and bring in new tax cuts for impacted businesses.
He also demanded the Liberals eliminate the consumer carbon tax, formally reverse the capital gains inclusion rate increase included in last budget. He also said provinces need to eliminate internal trade barriers.
“All of these things were conservative fixations before the tariffs. Now they are even more necessary, but none of these things have happened in the last 100 days since Trump first launched his tariff threats,” Poilievre charged.
The Conservative leader also accused the Liberals of failing to secure the Canadian border and fight the opioid crisis, but dismissed the suggestion that security issues were the reason Trump launched the trade war.
“Let’s be clear, that is not a justification for tariffs. But we have guns, drugs and illegal migrants coming from the United States to Canada. We have never tariffed the Americans for that. If the president wants to fight fentanyl, I agree with him, but I would do it not for President Trump. I would do it for Canadians,” he said.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called on Trudeau to recall Parliament — which is prorogued since early January — for an emergency debate in the House of Commons on the trade war.
He also appeared to walk back a previous promise to topple the Liberals “at the earliest opportunity”, saying that MPs needed to put in place support for workers first and then have an election.
Singh demanded EI be reformed to be disbursed faster and to more eligible recipients and said all party leaders should unanimously denounce the U.S. tariffs in Parliament.
“We are in what could be worse than the pandemic in terms of the impacts on our economy and to workers. So we need across the board supports for workers impacted,” Singh said.
“In the crisis we find ourselves, we need an Employment Insurance that works,” he added. “We also need faster access, because right now there is a delay that is too long… and the amount that people receive to replace their salary is not adequate for the cost of living.”
Shortly after Trudeau confirmed Canada’s response, Trump mused on social media that he would further increase the tariffs on Canadian products.
“Please explain to Governor Trudeau, of Canada, that when he puts on a Retaliatory Tariff on the U.S., our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!,” he wrote.
After months of negotiations with the Trump administration in the hopes of avoiding the historic trade war, Trudeau said Tuesday that there was “never” a way to avoid the tariffs.
He said his government’s focus is now on trying to have them removed all the while working on measures to compensate affected businesses and workers.
“Our priority has to be not on figuring out how to manage through these tariffs over the coming days and weeks and months, but on doing everything we can to get them lifted and put an end to this unjustified trade war that hurts American families and Canadian families,” Trudeau said.
The prime minister also said the federal and provincial were working on other non-tariff measures aimed at the U.S. if the trade war endures.
During his speech, Trudeau had a message for Americans, Canadians and Trump, to whom he referred to as “Donald” in apparent mimicry of Trump’s habit of calling him “Justin”.
“We don’t want this. We want to work with you as a friend and ally, and we don’t want to see you hurt either, but your government has chosen to do this to you,” he told Americans.
To Canadians, he warned that the trade war would be a hard storm to weather and said the government would begin Tuesday to consider supports for affected workers and businesses.
“We will use every tool at our disposal so Canadian workers and businesses can weather this storm, from expanding EI benefits and making them more flexible to providing direct supports to businesses,” Trudeau said.
Reaction to the burgeoning trade war has been swift. Provincial premiers across the country expressed their dismay at Trump’s tariffs and expressed their support for the federal government’s retaliatory measures.
Chambers of commerce in both countries warned that workers in both countries would feel the negative effects of the tariffs.
“Today’s reckless decision by the U.S. administration is forcing Canada and the U.S. toward recessions, job losses and economic disaster,” said Candace Laing, the president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, in a statement.
“The U.S. government’s self-defeating tariff policy disregards decades of success and trillions in trade to try and revive a failed economic model from the 1800s. Tariffs are a tax on the American people,” said Laing.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged a swift end to the tariffs, arguing that “tariffs will only raise prices and increase the economic pain being felt by everyday Americans across the country.”
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