Trudeau ready to slap Trump with counter-tariffs in potential trade war

Toronto: Justin Trudeau says Canada is ready to respond with counter-tariffs against the US if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his threat to begin a trade war in North America.

Speaking on MSNBC’s Inside With Jen Psaki, the outgoing Canadian prime minister said his government wasn’t looking for a trade fight with the new administration but would have to retaliate if the US puts tariffs on Canadian products.

Canada buys more US-made goods than any other country, according to US Commerce Department export data – about $US320 billion ($520 billion) in the first 11 months of last year. The US trade deficit on goods with Canada was $US55 billion during that period.

“As we did last time, we are ready to respond with tariffs as necessary,” Trudeau said. “We are the number one export partner of about 35 different US states and anything that thickens the border between us ends up costing American citizens and American jobs.” On a per-capita basis, Canada buys far more from the US than the US buys from Canada.

When the first Trump administration placed tariffs on steel and aluminum in 2018, the Canadian government put levies on a list of US-manufactured items that included household appliances, bourbon whiskey and boats.

This time, Trump has said he’s considering broad 25 per cent tariffs against items from Mexico and Canada. One draft retaliation plan circulating within the Canadian government would affect almost every category of products imported by Canada from the US, Bloomberg reported on January 10.

In the interview with Psaki, Trudeau touted Canada’s decision to spend more on border security, including more helicopters and drones, which aims to stymie the flow of fentanyl and illegal migration into the US – a direct response to Trump’s concerns.

“Less than 1 per cent of the illegal migrants, less than 1 per cent of the fentanyl that comes into the United States, comes from Canada. So we’re not a problem,” Trudeau said. “We’ve actually responded to his request for us to do more with billions of dollars worth of investments to even further strengthen the security of our borders.”

Trudeau called Trump’s taunts about making Canada the 51st US state “distracting” from more pressing issues.