Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau launched a blistering response to President Donald Trump’s decision to level punishing tariffs on his country.
Looking directly into a TV camera and addressing ‘Donald,’ he said: ‘Even though you are a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do.’
Trudeau, at times close to tears during an emotional press conference in Ottawa, was quoting a previous verdict on Trump’s tariff policy delivered by the Wall Street Journal.
U.S. Imports from Canada will now be taxed at 25 percent as Trump’s tariffs went into effect on Tuesday.
Trudeau said: ‘Today the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, and their closest friend. At the same time they’re talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin a lying murderous dictator. Make that make sense.’
The United States imported $412 billion worth of goods from Canada in 2024, according to the US Census Bureau. Canada is America’s third largest trading partner.
Trudeau veered between anger, frustration, defiance and sadness during his extended press conference.
‘We’re insulted, we’re angry, but we’re Canadian, which means we’re gonna stand up for each other, we’re gonna fight…and we’re gonna win,’ he declared.
Trump has repeatedly proposed that if Canada wants to avoid the tariffs they should consider joining the United States as its ’51st state’.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a news conference on imposed U.S. tariffs in Ottawa
‘I say Canada should be our 51st state,’ Trump said last week. ‘There’s no tariffs, no nothing.’
Trump has even proposed to Trudeau that he could become governor of Canada if it joined the U.S.
‘I think he’s a very good guy. I call him Governor Trudeau,’ Trump said.
An irate Trudeau spoke directly to the American people, blaming President Trump for making the decision to level tariffs, and warning it would hurt the U.S. economically.
‘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,’ he said.
Trudeau announced that Canada would begin implementing 25 percent tariffs on $155 billion of American goods, starting with $30 billion worth immediately.
‘This is a time to hit back hard and to demonstrate that a fight with Canada will have no winners,’ he said.
Trudeau appeared deeply upset, warning the tariffs would hurt Canadian families and business, and said he would work with the United States to convince them to lift the measures.
‘I will admit I have been holding out hope that these tariffs were just a clever negotiating ploy,’ he said.
Trump has long defended tariffs as a ‘powerful weapon’ that should be used by the United States to bolster American manufacturing.
He has also argued the United States does not need Canada’s lumber, dairy products, or auto manufacturing.
US Presidnt Donald Trump greets Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House in Washington, DC, on June 20, 2019
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was deeply upset by the news
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‘We don’t need them to make our cars, we make a lot of them, we don’t need their lumber because we have our own forests… we don’t need their oil and gas, we have more than anybody,’ Trump said in January.
American companies who rely on products manufactured in Canada warn that tariffs will only will make their items more expensive as they pass their costs to consumers.
The president also leveled a 25 percent tariff on goods from Mexico and increased a 10 percent tariff on imports from China by an additional ten percent.
‘I love the people of Canada and – but honestly it’s not fair for us to be supporting Canada,’ Trump said last week.
Trudeau concluded is press conference by warning the American people that Canadians were ‘angry’ and ‘hurt’ by the news, and would likely choose to forgo ‘classic American products’ like bourbon, and choose to avoid vacations in states like Florida.
‘Yeah, we’re probably going to keep booing the American anthem,’ he said. ‘But let me tell Americans we are not booing your teams, we’re not booing your players. We’re booing a policy that is designed to hurt us.’
Target CEO Brian Cornell and Best Buy CEO Corey Barry issued warnings predicting potential price increases as Trump’s tariffs go into effect.
He said: ‘We expect our vendors across our entire assortment will pass along some level of tariff costs to retailers, making price increases for American consumers highly likely.’
Many American grocery retailers like Target rely on Mexican produce during the winter months.
Trump reacted to Trudeau’s press conference on social media, threatening additional tariffs.
‘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!’ he warned.