Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to Canadians about the U.S. tariffs on Tuesday morning, confirming Canada would retaliate and placing the blame on U.S. President Donald Trump.
During the press conference, Trudeau took a moment to address Trump directly, saying the tariffs are “a very dumb thing to do.”
Trudeau said Canada would implement 25 percent tariffs on $155 billion worth of American goods, starting with immediate tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods, followed by the other $125 billion in 21 days.
“They’ve chosen to launch a trade war that will first and foremost harm American families. They’ve chosen to sabotage their own agenda,” Trudeau said. He also called the trade actions illegal and said Canada would file disputes.
The Prime Minister also addressed Trump’s fentanyl justification for the trade war, saying that Canada took action on fentanyl and had a 97 percent drop in fentanyl seizures from January compared to December.
“We did everything we promised, we stuck to our word. And we did it because we believe in working together to protect our citizens,” Trudeau said.
But the Prime Minister said he doesn’t think this is really about fentanyl, saying that Trump has repeatedly stated he wants to “ruin the Canadian economy” so he can annex the country. “That’s what he wants.”
Trudeau highlighted other work the federal government is doing in response to the U.S. tariffs, including removing internal trade barriers between provinces and territories and working to reach new markets around the world.
The Prime Minister had words of praise for Canadians too.
“Canadians have shown so much solidarity,” Trudeau said. “I saw you sharing lists of Canadian products to help your loved ones and friends support Canadian businesses. I saw you change your travel plans to stay in Canada rather than going to the United States. I saw you redouble your efforts to support our small businesses and our workers.”
In closing, Trudeau said the government has been working on measures to help Canadian citizens, workers, and businesses if the tariffs last longer than a few hours or days.
“But let’s also be clear,” Trudeau said. “This is going to be tough.”
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