U.S. President Donald Trump is once again lashing out against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as Canada is about to hit the U.S. with retaliatory tariffs this weekend.
The move comes after Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on steel imports and a 10 per cent tariff on aluminum coming from Canada earlier this month.
Trump is already firing back and re-affirming his promise to hit Canada’s auto sector which would be detrimental to our economy. Finance ministers across the country were told today that these tariffs would tip the nation into recession, especially Ontario.
Last night at a rally President Trump concluded his speech with a 10 minute rant on Trudeau, tariffs and trade.
“Canadaaaa, you know .. nice guy, nice guy, but the Prime Minister Justin. I say Justin what’s your problem?”
The President still upset with Trudeau’s comments 3 weeks ago after the G7 summit in Quebec.
“I get on the plane and I see Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minster of Canada say “Canada will not be bullied by the United States” and I said what are we doing here!”
The Prime Minister was talking about the Canadian retaliatory tariffs, which go into effect this weekend, covering a broad range of items.
Unfinished iron and steel U.S. products will be hit with a 25 per cent tariff.
Consumer goods like yogurt, maple syrup, toilet paper, beer kegs and whisky to name a few, will be tagged with a 10 per cent duty. The Canadian measures take aim at $16.6 billion worth of goods.
With those tariffs looming, Trump repeated his threat on Canadian-made cars.
“I said, look, if you want to do that, we’re going to put a little tariff on your cars, you know cars are the biggie.”
According to Marvin Ryder of the DeGroote school of Business, “Parts sometimes go back and forth across the border 8 times. If you put 25 per cent every time it crosses suddenly it becomes unafforable.”
Trump is framing it as possible retaliation for Canada’s dairy tariffs …
“You know I see Justin saying “we fought World War 1 together we fought World War 2 together” true. We love Canada but Canada’s charging almost 300% tariffs on dairy products and many other things.”
Industry representatives say Trump’s threat on the auto sector could send Canada spiraling into recession.
“You hear people say ‘oh well, there could be a recession’. What they are really saying is: if this all becomes permanent, if we put tariffs on everybody and nothing gets reversed, the yes by 2020 we would be into a recession. I just don’t think that’s likely.”
TD economists forecast 160,000 job losses in Canada, the vast majority in Ontario, but American workers would be hit too.
“There would be companies that would close in Canada but there would be companies that would close in the United States. This would be absolutely devastating to all of our economies.”
In Ottawa today the President of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association said auto tariffs on Canadian cars would have a huge impact on jobs in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, all states that helped deliver the Trump presidency.
