By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-04 17:21:30 | Updated at 2025-03-04 22:03:01
5 hours ago
Canada is imposing 25 per cent tariffs on C$30 billion (US$20.8 billion) worth of US imports effective immediately, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Tuesday.
Trudeau made the announcement just hours after US President Donald Trump slapped 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada.
“There is absolutely no justification or need whatsoever for these tariffs today,” Trudeau said, adding that Canada would challenge the US measures at the World Trade Organization and through the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
If the US tariffs persist, Canada will impose a 25 per cent tariff on a further C$125 billion of US imports in 21 days’ time, he said.
“The United States launched a trade war against Canada … Canadians are reasonable. We are polite. We will not back down from a fight,” Trudeau said, adding that while he thinks Trump is a “smart guy”, the tariffs are a “very dumb thing to do”.
Asked about Trump’s motivations for imposing tariffs on all Canadian goods, Trudeau said the US president, who has spoken often of making Canada the 51st American state, “wants to see a collapse of the Canadian economy because that would make it easier to annex us”.
