Amid the Trump administration's reckless tariff war, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday announced that the era of deep economic, security, and military ties between Canada and the United States 'is over'.
Carney's statement came following US President Donald Trump's declaration of a 25 percent tariff on vehicle imports, set to take effect next week.
Adding one more item to his growing list of executive orders, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced sweeping plans to impose a permanent 25 percent tariff on all cars imported into the United States. The tariffs will take effect on April 2.
Addressing the reporters at the White House, the president said, "What we're going to be doing is a 25 per cent tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States. This will be permanent" while adding, "We start off with a 2.5 per cent base, which is what we're at, and go to 25 per cent."
Following Trump's debatable announcement, Carney reportedly paused his election campaign ahead of Canada's April 28 polls. He returned to Ottawa for a meeting of cabinet members working on tactics in the trade war with the United States.
It has been reported that on Thursday, the White House had reached out to Carney to schedule a call and he is expected to speak to Trump in the "next day or two."
What All Did Carney Say?
Commenting on the latest development that further exacerbated the US-Canada relations, Carney said, "The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over."
Terming Trump's auto tariffs "unjustified," and said they were in breach of existing trade deals between the countries. He alos asserted that Canada would retaliate against the auto tariffs. "Our response to these latest tariffs is to fight, is to protect, is to build," Carney said.
"We will fight the US tariffs with retaliatory trade actions of our own that will have maximum impact in the United States and minimum impacts here in Canada," he added.
Carney has also said that while he is willing to talk to Trump, he will not participate in substantive trade negotiations with Washington until the president shows Canada "respect," particularly by ending his repeated annexation threats.
"For me, there are two conditions, not necessarily for a call, but a negotiation with the United States. First Respect, respect for our sovereignty as a country... apparently it's a lot for him," Carney said.
"There has to be a comprehensive discussion between the two of us, including with respect to our economy and our security," he added.
Trump's Tariff Spree
Right after assuming the office for his second tenure as the US president, Trump said that he could put 25 percent trade tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting on February. For products from China, Trump announced a levy of 60 percent levy.
In his inaugural address, Trump pledged that tariffs would be imposed and said foreign countries would be paying the trade penalties, even though those taxes are currently paid by domestic importers and often passed along to consumers.
However, a day after pausing planned tariffs for at least a month for Mexico, US President Donald Trump on February 4 agreed to do the same with Canada after a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. However, Trump's tariffs against China are still slated to go into effect on Tuesday.
On February 3, Trump paused the tariffs it imposed on Mexico. In a tweet, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, President of Mexico in her conversation with USA President Donald Trump said that the tariffs have been paused for a month.
Trump has also threatened Canada with new tariffs targeting Canadian lumber and dairy products. Citing Canada's roughly 250% tariff on US dairy exports to the country, President Trump said in an Oval Office address, "Canada has been ripping us off for years on lumber and on dairy products," CNN reported.
Moreover, he doubled his planned tariffs on steel and aluminum products imported from Canada to 50 percent. The move came in response to Ontario's decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on its electricity exports to the United States.
