A determined Canadia Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the American people, Canadian citizens and U.S. President Donald Trump directly as he announced 25% retaliatory tariffs on $155 billion worth of American goods.
It was one of the harshest assessments ever from the mild-mannered longtime ally on America’s northern border.
“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. Now, 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.”
The WSJ’s conservative editorial board a month ago called the Trump administration’s tariffs “the dumbest in history.” An op-ed today is titled Trump Takes the Dumbest Tariff Plunge. “Mr. Trump is whacking friends, not adversaries,” it wrote.
Trump imposed tariffs of 25% on Canada and Mexico and added another 10% to taxes on Chinese goods, which all took effect overnight.
“Today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada. At the same time, they’re talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin — a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense,” Trudeau said.
“Canadians are reasonable and we are polite, but we will not back down from a fight, not when our country and the well-being of everyone in it is at stake,” he said.
Trump has just responded on Truth Social: “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!”
In a few posts overnight and this morning, he wrote, “To the Great Farmers of the United States: Get ready to start making a lot of agricultural product to be sold INSIDE of the United States. Tariffs will go on external product on April 2nd. Have fun!”
And, “Canada doesn’t allow American Banks to do business in Canada, but their banks flood the American Market. Oh, that seems fair to me, doesn’t it?”
Another goal of Trump’s tariffs is to encourage businesses to move production back the U.S. The president himself has acknowledged that tariffs could create “a little pain” short term for Americans.
Addressing Canadians, Trudeau said, “I won’t sugar coat it, this is going to be tough, even though we’re all going to pull together, because that’s what we do. We will use every tool at our disposal so Canadian workers and businesses can weather this storm.”
Canada will be implementing 25% tariffs against $155 billion worth of American goods, starting with tariffs on $30 billion worth immediately, and the remaining $125 billion in 21 days. It will also be challenging these illegal actions by filing dispute resolution claims at the World Trade Organization and through the USCMA, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement – which was signed and heralded by Trump in his first term. “But in the meantime, our tariffs will remain in place until the U.S. tariffs are withdrawn, and not a moment sooner.”
Addressing the American people directly, he said, “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. As of this morning, markets are down and inflation is set to rise dramatically all across your country.”
U.S. stock markets plunged today, erased gain since Donald Trump took office.
Trudeau called the Trump administration’s justification for the tariffs – that Canada isn’t doing enough to prevent illegal fentanyl coming into the U.S. – a “pretext,” saying “far less than 1% of fentanyl flows, and less than 1% of illegal crossings into the United States comes from Canada,” he said, ticking off measures already taken to stem the flow of the drug.
“We stepped up. We engaged closely and constructively with the President and his administration. We did everything we promised. We stuck to our word. And we did it because we believe in working together to protect our citizens.”
“So on that point, let me be crystal clear, there is absolutely no justification or need whatsoever for these tariffs today.”
The relationship between the two nations has been deteriorating since Trump took office and continued to refer to the possibility of Canada as a 51st state. On Saturday Night Live last weekend, Mike Myers, one of the most famous Canadians in Hollywood, made it clear where he stands on that with a t-shirt reading “Canada is not for sale” alongside the Canadian flag during the curtain call. He made a surprise appearance in the show’s Cold Open as a chainsaw-wielding Elon Musk.
