Trudeau calls tariffs on Canada ‘a very dumb thing to do’
In a speech to Canadians, prime minister Justin Trudeau directly addressed Donald Trump, saying that his decision to impose tariffs on one of the United State’s top trading partners is “a very dumb thing to do”.
“Now, it’s not in my habit to agree with the Wall Street Journal, but Donald, they point out that even though you’re a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do. We two friends fighting is exactly what our opponents around the world want to see,” said Trudeau.
The prime minister added that he would challenge the US tariffs at the World Trade Organization and through the free trade agreement covering the two countries. Canada has already retaliated with tariffs on $30bn Canadian dollars of US goods, and threatened to impose levies of $125bn Canadian dollars in 21 days’ time.
“Our tariffs will remain in place until the US tariffs are withdrawn, and not a moment sooner. And should these tariffs not cease, we are in active and ongoing discussions with provinces and territories to pursue several non-tariff measures, measures which will demonstrate that there are no winners in a trade war,” Trudeau said.
Key events
Back in the US, more business leaders are warning consumers to expect higher prices as a result of Donald Trump’s trade war. Here’s more on that, from the Guardian’s Callum Jones and Leyland Cecco:
Americans have been warned to brace for higher prices within days after Donald Trump pulled the trigger on Monday and imposed US tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, and hiked tariffs on China.
Global stock markets came under pressure again on Tuesday, with leading indices falling sharply – and the benchmark S&P 500 losing all its post-election gains – as Canada, Mexico and China vowed to retaliate, and investors balked at the prospect of an acrimonious trade war.
US retail giants predicted that prices were “highly likely” to start rising on shelves almost immediately after a 25% duty came into effect on exports from Mexico to the US.
Most Canadian exports to the US also now face a 25% duty, with a 10% rate for energy products. The Trump administration imposed a 10% levy on all Chinese exports to the US last month, which has now been doubled to 20%.
Trump, who won back the White House after pledging repeatedly to bring prices down, has acknowledged that his controversial trade strategy could lead them to rise. Consumers could face “some short-term disturbance”, the president conceded last month.
With US retailers relying heavily on imports from Mexico and Canada to stock their shelves, top executives claimed they would have no choice but to increase prices.
Justin Trudeau went on to accuse Donald Trump of seeking to destroy the Canadian economy to make the country easier to annex – something he insisted was “never going to happen”.
“What he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy, because that will make it easier to annex us, is the second half of his thought. Now, first of all, that’s never going to happen. We will never be the 51st state, but yeah, he can do damage to the Canadian economy, and he started this morning,” Trudeau said.
The prime minister warned that Americans will suffer in the trade war as well:
As American families are going to find out, that’s going to hurt people on both sides of the border. Americans will lose jobs, Americans will be paying more for groceries, for gas, for cars, for homes, because we have always done best when we work together. So we are, of course, open to starting negotiations on the customer review, but let us not fool ourselves about what he seems to be wanting.
Justin Trudeau also said that he did not believe Donald Trump’s insistence that tariffs were imposed in retaliation for Canada’s failure to combat fentanyl trafficking.
“We have laid out extensive plans, actions, cooperations, including as recently as the past days in Washington, and they have always been very well received, and the numbers bear that out,” the prime minister said.
“I think in what President Trump said yesterday, that there is nothing Canada or Mexico can do to avoid these tariffs, underlines very clearly what I think a lot of us have suspected for a long time, that these tariffs are not specifically about fentanyl, even though that is the legal justification he must use to actually move forward with these tariffs.”
Trudeau calls tariffs on Canada ‘a very dumb thing to do’
In a speech to Canadians, prime minister Justin Trudeau directly addressed Donald Trump, saying that his decision to impose tariffs on one of the United State’s top trading partners is “a very dumb thing to do”.
“Now, it’s not in my habit to agree with the Wall Street Journal, but Donald, they point out that even though you’re a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do. We two friends fighting is exactly what our opponents around the world want to see,” said Trudeau.
The prime minister added that he would challenge the US tariffs at the World Trade Organization and through the free trade agreement covering the two countries. Canada has already retaliated with tariffs on $30bn Canadian dollars of US goods, and threatened to impose levies of $125bn Canadian dollars in 21 days’ time.
“Our tariffs will remain in place until the US tariffs are withdrawn, and not a moment sooner. And should these tariffs not cease, we are in active and ongoing discussions with provinces and territories to pursue several non-tariff measures, measures which will demonstrate that there are no winners in a trade war,” Trudeau said.
Ontario premier orders 25% surcharge for electricity shipped to US states – report
Ontario premier Doug Ford told the Wall Street Journal that in retaliation for Donald Trump’s tariffs, he has ordered a 25% export tax on electricity his province’s producers send to Minnesota, New York and Michigan.
“President Trump underestimates the Canadian people,” Ford told the Journal, adding that he will shut down power exports entirely if Trump makes good on his promise to impose further tariffs next month. He further noted that the US defense industry gets 50% of its nickel, a critical mineral, from Ontario, and threatened to stop that trade as well.
“He’s going to wake up real quickly about our critical minerals,” Ford said.
Zelenskyy says ready to sign minerals deal, White House meeting ‘did not go the way it was supposed to’
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was ready to sign an agreement demanded by Donald Trump for access to Ukraine’s minerals, and acknowledged last week’s testy White House meeting “did not go the way it was supposed to”.
The comments come after Trump yesterday decided to pause military assistance to Ukraine, potentially jeopardizing its ability to defend against Russia’s invasion. We have a separate live blog covering all the latest news in the conflict, and you can read it here:
On Truth Social, Donald Trump has this to say:
IF COMPANIES MOVE TO THE UNITED STATES, THERE ARE NO TARIFFS!!!
Here’s more about the tariffs he has imposed on Canada, Mexico and China, three of the United States’s top trading partners:
Tariff upheaval triggers Wall Street selloff
Major US stock indices have dropped significantly in early morning trading amid fears that Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China will cause price spikes and economic upheaval.
The broad-based S&P 500 erased gains it had made since the 5 November election, with a drop of 1.6%. The benchmark Down Jones industrial average was down 1.5% or more than 650 points.
The figures are certainly not what Trump, who often uses the stock market as a barometer for his administration’s economic success, would like to see.
Mexico president vows to respond to tariffs on Sunday
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said she will outline her country’s response to Donald Trump’s tariffs on Sunday, Reuters reports.
While China and Canada quickly announced plans for retaliatory levies on US goods, Mexico has so far held off, but Sheinbaum said she would detail tariff and non-tariff measures against the Trump administration’s move in her weekend speech.
“There is no reason, rationale or justification to support this decision that will affect our people and nations … Nobody wins with this decision,” Sheinbaum told reporters in Mexico City.
Commerce secretary defends tariffs but acknowledges prices may increase in short term
Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC that Donald Trump’s tariffs on major US trading partners may cause short-term price hikes, but argued the long-term effects would be positive.
“There may well be short-term price movements, but in the long-term, it’s going to be completely different,” Lutnick said. He also signaled that more tariffs were in the pipeline, saying the Trump administration was ready to move forward on 2 April with its plan for “reciprocal” levies on imports from countries that put tariffs on US goods.
The American Automotive Policy Council, which represents the three Detroit automakers, warned that the tariffs on Mexico and Canada would raise the costs of vehicle production.
“Our American automakers, who invested billions in the US to meet these requirements, should not have their competitiveness undermined by tariffs that will raise the cost of building vehicles in the United States and stymie investment in the American workforce, while our competitors from outside of North America benefit from easy access to our home market,” said Matt Blunt, the council president, who added that US automakers should receive exemptions from the tariffs.
Republicans in both houses of Congress have generally gone along with whatever Donald Trump has done since returning to the White House.
Nonetheless, Kentucky senator Rand Paul sounds displeased with the barrage of tariffs aimed at Mexico and Canada, noting that exports of bourbon, one of his state top products, are set to be affected. Here’s what he wrote on X:
US tariffs inevitably bring Canadian, Mexican, and Chinese tariffs which means higher prices for lumber, steel, aluminum and more expensive homes and cars.
Retaliatory tariffs lead to lowered US farm exports, lowered bourbon exports, and less international shipping. Tariffs are taxes and if you tax trade you’ll get less trade and less prosperity.
Americans to pay more after Trump launches trade war with top partners, major retailers warn – report
The CEOs of two large retailers in the United States say shoppers are likely to see prices rise as a result of the tariffs Donald Trump placed on Canada and Mexico, and his hike in levies on China.
The warnings from the CEOs of Best Buy and Target, reported by CNBC, contradict the president’s assertion that the costs of his trade war will not be borne by US consumers, who rebelled against his predecessor Joe Biden after the US economy was hit by its worst bout of inflation in decades.
“Those are categories where we’ll try to protect pricing, but the consumer will likely see price increases over the next couple of days,” Target CEO Brian Cornell told the network in an interview. “If there’s a 25% tariff, those prices will go up.”
On an earnings call, Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said China and Mexico were his firm’s two biggest suppliers, and price hikes were inevitable.
“Trade is critically important to our business and industry, the consumer electronic supply chain is highly global, technical and complex,” Barry told shareholders, according to CNBC. “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.”
