(The Hill) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slammed President Trump’s tariffs on his country, reiterating a message from The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board that the taxation plan was “dumb.”
“Now, I want to speak directly to one specific American,” Trudeau said Tuesday in an address. “Donald, in the over eight years you and I have worked together, we’ve done big things. We signed a historic deal that has created record jobs and growth in both of our countries. We’ve done big things together on the world stage, as Canada and the U.S. have done together for decades, for generations. And now, we should be working together to ensure even greater prosperity for North Americans in a very uncertain and challenging world.”
Trudeau then highlighted a recent op-ed from the Journal’s editorial board that said Trump’s tariff plan was the “dumbest tariff plunge” that is hurting the country’s friends.
“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.
The prime minister urged the U.S. president to see that the neighboring, allied countries fighting is exactly what international adversaries want to see.
Trudeau then addressed his fellow Canadians, who will experience economic disruption as the flow of goods between countries will spike prices.
“I won’t sugarcoat it, this is going to be tough, even though we’re all going to pull together because that’s what we do,” he said. “We will use every tool at our disposal so Canadian workers and businesses can weather this storm.”
Trudeau promised that the Canadian government will protect its citizens and Canadian businesses from attacks and takeovers from the tariffs.
“We will stand up for Canadians every single second of every single day, because this country is worth fighting for,” he concluded.
President Donald Trump launched a trade war Tuesday against America’s three biggest trading partners, drawing immediate retaliation from Mexico, Canada and China, and sending financial markets into a tailspin as the U.S. faced the threat of rekindled inflation and paralyzing uncertainty for business.
Just after midnight, Trump imposed 25% taxes, or tariffs, on Mexican and Canadian imports, though he limited the levy to 10% on Canadian energy. Trump also doubled the tariff he slapped last month on Chinese products to 20%.
All three nations responded with plans to launch retaliatory tariffs. Trudeau, specifically, said Canada would plaster tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods over the course of 21 days.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
