After imposing high tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, the United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump wrote on his social media, Truth Social, claiming that without “U.S. subsidies,” Canada is not a sustainable country.
“We pay hundreds of billions of dollars to subsidize Canada. Why? No reason. We don’t need anything they have. We have unlimited energy, we should produce our own cars, and we have more lumber than we can use. Without this massive subsidy, Canada ceases to exist as a sustainable country. Harsh but true! Therefore, Canada should become our valued 51st state. Much lower taxes and far better military protection for the people in Canada, and no tariffs!” Trump wrote.
The introduction of sanctions has sparked angry reactions from Canada, Mexico, and China, which are the U.S.’s largest trading partners.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a televised address on Saturday evening in which he announced concrete measures, including a gradual 25 percent tariff on U.S. products worth 155 billion Canadian dollars (107 billion U.S. dollars).
Trudeau said that Trump had jeopardized U.S. consumers’ and industries’ access to critically needed Canadian minerals and resources, including oil, energy, and lumber. The prime minister pledged to work with Canadian provinces to review relations with the U.S.
To begin with, Canada will impose a 25 percent tariff starting todayon 30 billion Canadian dollars’ worth of U.S. goods entering Canada. The tariffs will then be extended to 125 billion Canadian dollars of U.S. imports over three weeks.
Trudeau said that Canadian industries, such as oil, could “have an impact on the U.S.,” but that no single sector should bear a greater burden of U.S. tariffs and Canada’s response to them than others, Klix.ba writes.
