Trudeau slams Trump's 'dumb' tariffs

06/03/2025 05:58 AST

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday angrily denounced Donald Trump's "dumb" tariffs and accused the US president of seeking to collapse Canada's economy in order to annex its northern neighbor. The extraordinary warning about Trump's threat to Canadian sovereignty came as the US president delivered on his vow to impose 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian goods. Canada immediately retaliated, triggering a trade war between previously close allies and threatening future commerce across a border that regularly sees billions of dollars in daily trade.

During a fiery speech in the Canadian capital, Trudeau addressed Trump directly, saying that while he thinks Trump is a "smart guy," the tariffs are a "very dumb thing to do." Trump has said the measures are necessary to force Canadian action against what he describes as the flow of undocumented migrants and the drug fentanyl across the border.

Trudeau has maintained that Canada is not a significant contributor to either problem in the United States, and on Tuesday called Trump's fentanyl justification "completely false." Asked about Trump's motivations for imposing tariffs, 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."

"The United States launched a trade war against Canada," Trudeau said. "Canadians are reasonable. We are polite. We will not back down from a fight." As part of its response to the US levies, Canada will initiate dispute cases at the World Trade Organization and through the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement negotiated during Trump's first term, Trudeau said.

Canada's retaliatory tariffs will remain in place until the US levies are withdrawn, he added. "We don't want this," Trudeau said. Addressing Americans directly and warning that a trade war with Canada would lead to economic pain in the United States, Trudeau said: "Your government has chosen to do this to you." Trudeau, who has been in power since 2015, is due to be replaced as the leader of the governing Liberal Party on Sunday. He has said he will step down as prime minister when the party's new leader is chosen. Canada has tried to address Trump's concerns on migrants and fentanyl, in hopes of avoiding the tariffs that came into force on Tuesday. Canada has pushed through a costly new border security plan and named a fentanyl czar to lead the effort against the drug. - AFP

Trudeau said his focus remained on getting US tariffs lifted "as quickly as possible," adding that he remained ready to talk directly to Trump.

The Canadian leader began his speech by noting that while the United States was waging economic war on its "closest ally," Trump is "talking about working positively with Russia (and) appeasing Vladimir Putin." Trudeau and other Canadian officials affirmed their support for Ukraine last week after the stunning Oval Office spat between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky.

AFP