The United States imposes tariffs, and Canada and Mexico respond!

Trudeau: Canada will not back down in the trade war initiated by Trump

Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau held a press conference on the 4th and said that Canada will not back down in the trade war initiated by US President Trump.

Trudeau reiterated his recently announced measures to impose retaliatory tariffs on US goods. He said that Canada will impose a 25% tariff on 155 billion Canadian dollars (about 107 billion US dollars) of US goods. Among them, tariffs on 30 billion Canadian dollars of US goods will take effect on the 4th, and tariffs on another 125 billion Canadian dollars of US goods will take effect 21 days later.

Trudeau said that Trump’s launching of a trade war is “a very stupid thing” and that American families and Trump will soon feel the “destructiveness” of the tariffs.

Trudeau said that Trump’s claim that the drug problem on the Canada-US border is an “unreasonable and false excuse.” The reason why Trump is so active in imposing tariffs is that he “hopes to see the Canadian economy completely collapse” and “because it will make it easier to annex us, which is his next idea, but this will never happen. We will never become the 51st state (of the United States)”.

Trudeau said that Canada will file a complaint with the World Trade Organization and the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and the Canadian government is also discussing with provinces and regions to take a number of non-tariff measures to respond to the US tariffs.

Mexican President: Measures will be taken to respond to US tariffs

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on the 4th that Mexico will take measures to respond to US tariffs, which will be announced on the 9th. She emphasized that the US accusation that Mexico is ineffective in combating drug trafficking is “very unreasonable, purely slanderous and unfounded”.

Sheinbaum said at a press conference in Mexico City that day that the unilateral decision of the US government deviated from the development direction of North American regional economic integration and hindered efforts to jointly respond to global economic challenges. Sheinbaum said that the US tariffs on Mexico will not only affect businesses operating in Mexico, but will also hurt the people of both countries, push up the cost of living for American families, and jeopardize job growth in both countries. “There are no winners in this dispute!” Sheinbaum said that cooperation between Mexico and the United States on security and drug issues must be based on respect and equality, rather than unilateral accusations and interference. Trump signed an executive order on February 1, imposing a 25% tariff on products imported from Canada and Mexico, including a 10% tariff on Canadian energy products. On February 3, Trump announced a 30-day suspension of the tariffs on the two countries. On March 3, Trump confirmed that the tariffs on Canada and Mexico would take effect on the 4th.