Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday he had a “good call” with President-elect Trump following the incoming U.S. leader’s pronouncement that he would impose a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods when he takes office.
“I had a good call with Donald Trump last night again,” Trudeau told reporters Tuesday. “We obviously talked about laying out the facts, talking about how the intense and effective connections between our two countries flow back and forth.
“We talked about some of the challenges that we can work on together,” he continued. “It was a good call.”
Trudeau signaled a sense of optimism at working with Trump, even though the Canadian official acknowledged that the relationship between the two countries takes work.
“This is something that we can do, laying out the facts, moving forward in constructive ways,” Trudeau said. “This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on, and that’s what we’ll do.”
Trudeau advocated for a bipartisan approach to dealing with the U.S., adding in his remarks to reporters, “One of the really important things is that we be all pulling together on this. The ‘Team Canada’ approach is what works.”
Trump said Monday he would levy tariffs of 25 percent on all Canadian and Mexican goods, and add another 10 percent tariff to all Chinese goods — many of which are already under tariffs imposed by Trump during his first term.
Trump said the new tariffs are meant to push all three nations to make stronger efforts to bolster border security and crack down on fentanyl exports to the U.S.
“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Trump pledged during his campaign to impose import taxes of 10 percent to 20 percent on all foreign goods, with tariffs of up to 60 percent on Chinese goods. Canada, Mexico and China are the U.S.’s largest trading partners.
Trump’s threat comes days after he announced he would nominate investor Scott Bessent as his Treasury secretary. If Bessent is confirmed by the Senate, the role would make him a key player in implementing Trump’s trade agenda and attempting to keep markets calm amid the expected disruption.
