Canada’s outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned that the country would respond with retaliatory tariffs if US President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his plans to dramatically raise tariffs on imports.
Trudeau also suggested Americans think about the impact high import tariffs would have on their wallets.
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“As we did last time, we are ready to respond with tariffs as necessary,” he said on an appearance on MSNBC’s Inside with Jen Psaki.
“We are the number one export partner of about 35 different US states and anything that thickens the border between us ends up costing American citizens and American jobs.
“No American wants to pay 25% more for electricity or oil and gas coming in from Canada […] [Trump] got elected to try and make life easier for all Americans, to support American workers. These [tariffs] are things that are going to hurt them.”
Trump has warned that he would impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico, the US’s biggest trade partners, if improvements aren’t made on border control. According to data from the US Commerce Department, Canada bought $320bn worth of US goods in the first 11 months of 2024. They remain the US’ biggest trading partner, and the US experienced a $55bn trade deficit with its neighbour during that same period.
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By GlobalDataTrump has said he would temper his plans if neighbouring countries make broader efforts to combat illegal migration and drug trafficking at the border. While Trudeau has highlighted that less than 1% of undocumented migrants enter through the Canadian border, he discussed the issue at a meeting with Trump in his Mar-a-Lago resort in November. Following the meeting, Trudeau then announced Canada would ramp up spending on border security.
Last week, Bloomberg reported that a draft of Canada’s retaliatory plans was circulating internally. It included almost every US export to the North American country, according to one government official. However, another official said, that if Trump applies tariffs on all Canadian exports, Canada may not be able to match the value.
The most extreme retaliatory measure being weighed by Trudeau’s government is applying taxes on commodities that would affect American energy prices such as oil, uranium and potash.
While Trump has said the US doesn’t “need anything ” that Canada has, nearly a quarter of daily oil consumption in the US comes from the latter. The Canadian province of Alberta exports 4.3 million oil barrels a day to the US. According to the US Energy Information Administration, the country consumes around 20 million barrels a day.
Trudeau has said Trump’s threats to make Canada the 51st state are just a distraction from an economic plan that would hurt American consumers.
Trudeau has held the position of Canadian Prime Minister since 2015 but resigned from the role a week ago, citing “internal battles”. Previous deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland resigned last month seemingly over disagreements with Trudeau about how to approach Trump’s second term.
