Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has imposed a 25 per cent tariff on imports from the United States in retaliatory response to President Donald Trump announcing similar tariffs on Canadian goods.
Mr Trump also imposed a 10 per cent tariff on energy imports with enforcement of the tariffs set to commence on Tuesday.
“Tonight, I am announcing Canada will be responding to the US trade action with 25% trade tariffs against $155 billion worth of American goods,” Mr Trudeau said during a press conference on Saturday.
Executing one of the notices he gave before his inauguration, Mr Trump unveiled a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico as well as an additional 10 per cent tariff on goods from China as part of efforts to combat fentanyl and migrants’ influx.
“Today, I have implemented a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada (10% on Canadian Energy), and a 10% additional Tariff on China,” Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Mr Trump accused Canada, Mexico and China of complicit in the large influx of drugs and undocumented migrants into the United States. The three countries, however, denied the claim.
During the press conference, Mr Trudeau played down the allegation, noting that less than one per cent of drugs and undocumented immigrants trafficked into the United States came through the Canadian border and reiterated that Canada would respond accordingly.
President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, also rejected the accusation, posting on X that the country “categorically rejects the White House’s slander against the Mexican government for having alliances with criminal organisations.”
Ms Sheinbaum noted that she had directed the Secretary of Economy to “implement plan B that we have been working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defence of Mexico’s interests.”
Meanwhile, the Chinese government through its ministry of commerce in a statement threaten to sue the United States government with the World Trade Organisation.
