Trudeau says Americans understand Trump's tariffs on Canada will make life

AP SETS THE STANDARD FOR POLITICAL  REPOR

Trudeau says Americans  understand Trump's tariffs on Canada  will make life  much more expensive.

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that Americans  are "starting to wake up to the real reality that tariffs on everything  coming from Canada  are going to make life  much more  expensive" and said he  would back down if Donald  Trump. moves forward with  the tariffs.
Trump then responded by calling Canada a  country and Trudeau  a governor.
At an event  hosted by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, Trudeau also said  that facing Trump will be "a little  bit more  difficult" than last time because Trump's team is coming in with a much  bigger set of  clear ideas  about what  it wants to do  immediately after  its first election  victory in  2016.
The U.S. president-elect has threatened to impose a 25%  tariff on all  goods entering the  United States from Canada and Mexico unless they  stop the flow of  immigrants and  drugs. "Trump was elected on a  promise to make life better and more affordable for Americans, and I think people south of the border are  starting to wake up  and realize that tariffs on everything  coming from Canada  are going to make life a lot more expensive," Trudeau  said. .
Over the weekend, Trump appeared  on NBC's "Meet the Press," where the president-elect said he  couldn't guarantee that  the tariffs he has promised on  major U.S.  trading partners  wouldn't raise prices for American  consumers.
"We're not  going to do it to ourselves, in any shape or form, 25% tariffs on everything  coming into the  U.S. would be devastating  to the Canadian economy," Trudeau  said.
"It would  also mean real hardship for  Americans. Americans import 65% of their crude oil from Canada,  a significant  amount of electricity.  Almost all  of the natural gas exported from Canada goes to the United  States." They rely on us for steel and aluminum. They rely on us for a  variety of  agricultural imports. All of  these things  are going to get more expensive."
Trump  appeared to respond to Trudeau's comments with a post on social media late  Monday in which he  referenced Trudeau's recent dinner at  Mar-a-Lago, where some  say Trump joked about Canada becoming the 51st  country.
"It was a pleasure  having dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada. I look forward to  meeting the Governor again soon so that we  can continue our  in-depth discussions on  tariffs and  trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for  all of us! DJT," Trump posted on  Social Truth. If Trump  follows through on his threat to  impose 25% tariffs on everything imported from Mexico and Canada, the price  hikes that could follow  would run counter to his campaign promise to give American families  some relief from  inflation.
Economists say  businesses will have  no choice but to pass  on the  extra costs, dramatically  increasing the prices  of food, clothing,  cars, alcohol and other  goods.
The Produce Distributors Association, a  Washington-based trade group, said  the tariffs  would drive up the prices  of fresh  fruits and vegetables and hurt  American farmers  as countries  sell out.
"Of course, as we did eight years ago,  we will respond to unfair tariffs," Trudeau  said.
Trudeau said his government  was still  considering the "appropriate ways" to respond,  referring to when Canada  imposed billions  in new  tariffs on the United States in 2018 in response to new taxes on Canadian steel and  aluminum. Many American products were  targeted for their political  influence rather than  their economic impact. For example, Canada imports just $3 million worth of yogurt from the  United States each year, most of  which comes from  a factory in Wisconsin, the home state of  the then-Republican  representatives in the House  of Representatives. That product was  subject to a 10%  tax.
"We have imposed tariffs on  bourbon, Harley-Davidson, playing  cards, Heinz  ketchup, cherries and a number of other  products that  have been carefully targeted because they  have political influence in the president's party and  his colleagues," Trudeau  said.
Trudeau said  that when Trump says  things, he means  them, but they also know  that Trump is trying to  inject uncertainty and "a  little bit of chaos" into  democracy. "One of the most important things to do is not  to panic, not to  panic," Trudeau  said.
"Knowing that these  steps will be absolutely  devastating, we have to take them  seriously, but  that means we have to be thoughtful and strategic and not  just present the opposing arguments for  them, but  present our arguments in a  meaningful and  coherent way."
Canadian officials have said it is unfair to lump Canada  and Mexico together.
U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared  to 21,100 pounds at the Mexican  border.
Most of the fentanyl  that comes into the  United States — where it causes about 70,000 overdose deaths  each year — is  produced by Mexican drug cartels using precursor chemicals smuggled from  Asia.
On the immigration front, the U.S. Border Patrol reported 1.53 million encounters with  undocumented migrants at the southwest border with  Mexico. between October 2023 and September 2024.  This compares to 23,721 border  clashes with Canada during that  period.
Trump also claimed  that the  United States "subsidizes Canada to the tune of over $100 billion a  year."
On the U.S. trade  deficit, Canada's ambassador to Washington, Kirsten Hillman, told the AP  that the United States had a $75 billion trade deficit with Canada last  year, but noted  that a third of what Canada sells  to the  United States is energy  exports, and prices  are high.
About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports  come from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports  also come from Canada.
Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the  United States and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager  to acquire and  invest in for national  security.
Nearly $3.6 billion  ($2.7 billion)  in goods and services cross the border  every day. Canada is the top export destination for 36  US states.