- Trump vowed to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico on his first day in office.
- Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau warned tariffs will harm both Canadian and American consumers and industries.
- Trudeau said he and Trump will “work together as we previously did.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to President-elect Donald Trump’s Monday vow to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico on day one in office.
Trudeau, who’s been Canada’s prime minister since 2015, told reporters in Prince Edward Island, Canada, that Trump’s expected action will have consequences not just on Canadians but also on American consumers, according to the Associated Press.
“Our responsibility is to point out that he would not just be harming Canadians, who work so well with the United States, but he would actually be raising prices for Americans citizens as well and hurting American industry and business,” Trudeau said.
After a phone call earlier in the week to discuss the plans, Trudeau also made his way to West Palm Beach on Friday to meet with Trump, sources told Bloomberg.
Trump plans to impose 25% tariffs on goods coming from the northern and southern neighbors of the US. He said it’s a direct response to the inflow of immigrants and narcotics coming into the country illegally from Canada and Mexico, he said.
Canada and the US worked together during Trump’s first presidency when re-negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump threatened to use tariffs then as well. His threat of tariffs on imports from Mexico led to an expansion of the Migrant Protection Protocols program across the US-Mexico border.
Trudeau noted that the two have been able to come to an agreement in the past.
“We can work together as we did previously,” Trudeau said.
While Canada has yet to impose any tariffs of its own, a senior official told AP that it is looking into introducing retaliatory tariffs on certain items from the US.
“We’re going to work together to meet some of the concerns,” Trudeau said. “But ultimately it is through lots of real constructive conversations with President Trump that I am going to have, that will keep us moving forward on the right track for all Canadians.”
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo has already said that her country would impose tariffs on the US if Trump goes through with his plan.
Sheinbaum said during a press conference this week that “one tariff will be followed by another, and so on, until we put joint ventures at risk.”
As previously reported by Business Insider, Canada was the top export destination for 32 states in 2016. According to the Toronto Region Board of Trade, about 77% of Canada’s exports go to the US.
