Tariff dispute Canada's president addresses Donald Trump directly
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is swearing his country into a trade war with the United States and threatening Washington with further tough measures in the tariff dispute. Trudeau addressed US President Trump personally
04.03.2025, 17:52
SDA
"Today, the United States has launched a trade war against Canada, its closest partner and ally, its closest friend," said a determined-looking Justin Trudeau on Tuesday.
Canadians are a polite people, but they will not avoid a fight when the country's well-being is at stake.
In doing so, Trudeau addressed US President Trump personally: "Well, it's not my habit to agree with the Wall Street Journal, but Donald: they point out - even though you're such a smart guy - that this is a very stupid thing to do."
To US Americans, he said that their own government had decided to make their daily lives significantly more expensive. Trudeau also referred to the turbulence on the stock markets and price increases, which are likely to be dramatic.
Previously, US President Donald Trump had stuck to the announced tariffs of 25 percent on goods from Mexico and Canada. Trudeau had announced counter-tariffs of the same amount for some goods from the USA. Further measures are possible to make it clear to Trump "that there are no winners in a trade war", Trudeau continued.
He also criticized Trump's turn to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, whom Trudeau called a "lying, murderous dictator". This makes no sense. Trudeau emphasized that all Canadians across territorial and political borders agree "that this is the time to hit back hard". In response to threats from the White House that the USA could annex Canada, the Prime Minister said that Canada would never become the 51st state of the United States.
