Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that Americans “are beginning to realize that Tariffs on Canadian products would make life much more expensive«and assures that the country will respond if Trump decides to continue with the policy that has led his campaign: that of limit import of foreign products in order to favor the national industry.
The president-elect of the United States has promised to impose new tariffs on Canadian importswhich Trudeau describes as “unfair.” At an event hosted by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, Trudeau has stated that dealing with Trump in commercial topics It will be “a little more challenging” than last time, due to the tightening of trade policy compared to his last term.
Canada ‘will respond to unfair tariffs’ in various waysand we are still looking for appropriate ways to respond, but our responses to unfair tariffs on steel and aluminum “They were the ones who ended up lifting those tariffs the last time,” the president said in a speech.
Trump puts his two neighbors in the same bag
Trump has already announced a concrete measure regarding tariffs: he plans to impose a 25% tariff on all products entering the United States from Canada and Mexico, unless stop the flow of migrants and drugs. The Canadian administrations, for their part, consider that it is unfair compare both neighbors of the United States. For example, in the case of fentanyl, in the last fiscal year US agents seized 19.5 kilos of drugs on the Canadian border. For its part, on the Mexican border the amount amounted to 9,500 kilos.
In the case of the immigrationthe difference between Canada and Mexico continues to be abysmal. The United States Border Patrol reported 1.53 million irregular immigrants on the Mexican border, compared to 23,721 on the Canadian border.
Each tax, chosen with a magnifying glass
“It was the fact that we imposed tariffs on the bourbon, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, playing cards, Heinz ketchup, cherries and a number of other things that were very carefully selected because they had a political impact in the president’s party and his allies,” Trudeau explained about the billions in tariffs he approved in 2018 in retaliation for the Trump rates on Canadian steel and aluminum, which, he has defended, managed to lift the magnate’s measure.
The products that Canada chose have a great political impact, rather than an economic one. For example, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, Canada currently imports three million dollars annually in American yogurt. Most of it comes from a plant in Wisconsin, the home state of then-Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Over the weekend, Trump declared in an interview with NBC that cannot guarantee that the tariffs on the United States’ main trading partners, including Canada, don’t increase prices for American consumers. Trudeau goes further, declaring that the measures proposed by his counterpart “would be devastating for the Canadian economy.”
Giving the energy example, Trudeau confirmed what Trump left in the air: tariffs would make life difficult for US consumers. “Americans import the 65% of its crude oil from Canadasignificant amounts of electricity. Almost all of the natural gas that Canada exports goes to the United States. They depend on us for steel and aluminum. They depend on us for a wide range of agricultural imports. “All those things would become more expensive.”
Despite Trudeau’s harsh statements, he also wanted to convey a message of tranquillity to the citizens. “One of the most important things is not to panic,” he declared, defending a reflective approach to reach an agreement with Trump and thus avoid negative consequences for the economies of both neighbors.
Reactions of those affected
American trade associations have been quick to react to Trump’s proposed policies. The Association of Farm Products Distributorsa Washington trade group, has said the tariffs will increase prices of fresh fruits and vegetablesand will hurt American farmers when countries retaliate.
For their part, Canadian institutions have reacted to the exchange between leaders. Kirsten HillmanCanada’s ambassador in Washington, told the Associated Press that the United States had a trade deficit of 75 billion dollars with Canada last year. However, he pointed out that a third of Canadian sales to the US are energy, a good whose prices have reached record highs in recent times.
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