Canada may inflict economic pain on US against Trump's tariffs: Trudeau

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau promised that his country would respond with 'robust, rapid' and 'very strong' retaliatory measures

Warning that Canada will respond strongly if US President Donald Trump moves forward with his plan to impose tariffs, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Ottawa is willing to inflict 'economic pain on the US to get Trump to back down,' CBC News reported.

Trudeau promised that his country would respond with "robust, rapid" and "very strong" retaliatory measures.

This came after Trump announced that his administration is planning to impose 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada from February 1. "We are thinking in terms of 25 per cent on Mexico and Canada because they're allowing vast numbers of people ... to come in, and fentanyl to come in." When asked about the timeline, he said, "I think we'll do it February 1."

Speaking at a special cabinet meeting in Montebello on Tuesday, Quebec, Trudeau said that he was unfazed by Trump's about-face, saying he's come to expect a great deal of "uncertainty" when dealing with this president.

Trudeau further said Trump is a skilled negotiator and he will "do what he can to keep his negotiating partners a little off balance."

However, he made it clear that Canada is a good negotiator, too, Trudeau said, and it's willing to inflict economic pain on the US to get Trump to back down, as per CBC News.

Stating that Canada's main goal is to avoid the proposed US tariffs and foster "a very positive relationship with the US," Trudeau said the country won't roll over in the face of Trump's threats,

Despite Trump's rhetoric that he doesn't need anything from Canada, Trudeau said if Trump really wants to usher in a "golden age of America" with a booming economy, he's going to need Canadian natural resources like oil, lumber, steel, aluminium and critical minerals to make that happen.

That gives Canada some leverage, Trudeau said.

After his inauguration on Monday, Trump held off issuing an executive order to levy tariffs on Canada, only to suggest later in the day he wants a 25 per cent tariff in place in two weeks' time, the CBC News reported.

Then, he signed a new "America first" trade policy that directs officials to study unlawful migration and fentanyl flows from Canada and other countries and report back by April 1 on possible trade action to resolve what that policy calls an "emergency," the report said.

Even during the final days of the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump had threatened to impose a tariff of 25 per cent on all imports from Mexico, which is the top trade partner with the US, unless the Mexican government reduced the flow of migrants at the southern border, according to The Hill report.

He also threatened to impose tariffs on imports from Canada and China.

He has indicated that he intends to double down on the use of tariffs, claiming that the US will benefit financially even as experts warn it would amount to a tax on consumers.

On January 9 also, Trump highlighted how tariffs on Canada will eventually be imposed and brought to attention the "massive deficits" the US is having from Canada.