Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney today called US President Donald Trump’s 25 percent tariff on all imported cars a “direct attack” on his country.
Carney added that Canada will respond in a unified manner and that while the tariffs will hurt the Canadian economy, it is considering non-tariff measures against the United States.
“We will defend our workers, we will defend our companies, we will defend our country. And we will defend it together. The United States is divided, and that is debilitating,” the Canadian prime minister stressed.
In addition to its own retaliatory tariffs, Carney said that Canada “has other options.”
“I will meet with the cabinet tomorrow to discuss options,” the Canadian leader stressed, acknowledging that he does not yet have Trump’s signed executive order, so he is uncertain about the impact of the tariffs.
Carney had already warned today that Trump's trade war "is hurting American consumers and workers and it will hurt more."
American consumer confidence has been at a low point for several years and relations between the United States and Canada are under more pressure than ever, Carney stressed during a campaign in Windsor, Ontario, ahead of the April 28 election in Canada.
Meanwhile, the head of the Canadian province of Ontario, Doug Ford, where Canada's auto assembly plants are located, said he wants to inflict "as much pain as possible" on Americans so that Donald Trump will lift tariffs on the sector.
Ford, who has already increased the price of electricity sales from his province to the United States and even called for an energy embargo on the neighboring country, said Canada has two options: "We can either shrink as a country and be dominated until (Trump) gets what he wants, or we can feel a little pain and fight like we've never fought before."
"I prefer the latter. I believe in the fight, and we will have a big impact on the American people," the provincial leader added.
Ford, a conservative politician who declared himself an admirer of Trump during the US presidential campaign, also noted that the Republican leader is mistaken if he believes that his tariff policies will reduce prices for the American people.
US President Donald Trump announced today the application of a 25 percent tariff on all imported cars, estimating that the measure will generate tax revenues of 100 billion dollars (93 billion euros).
"This will continue to stimulate growth," Trump stressed at the White House, at a ceremony to sign an executive order to implement the tariff measure.
Trump said that the new tariffs on cars will come into effect next week, on April 2.
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