94Ha Viewpoint
Canada and Mexico condemned the United States for launching a trade war against them. Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau criticized this as a very “stupid” move, saying that American families and Trump will soon feel the damage caused by the tariffs. He also accused Trump of doing this to annex Canada.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick said that U.S. President Trump will reach a compromise agreement with Canada and Mexico on tariffs, but will not suspend or completely cancel tariff measures on the two countries. The relevant details are expected to be announced on Wednesday (March 5).
The United States will impose a 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods and a 10% tariff on Canadian energy from Tuesday (4th). Lutnick said in an interview with Fox News that day: “Mexico and Canada have been talking to me all day today, trying to show that they will do better, and the president is listening. So I think he will reach some kind of agreement with them.”
He indicated that the United States will not suspend tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, but Trump may come up with a compromise plan to allow Canada and Mexico to take more actions in exchange for the United States to reduce tariffs, and the final tariffs may fall “somewhere in the middle.”
He ruled out the possibility of completely canceling the tariff measures and mentioned the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement reached during Trump’s first presidential term. He said: “If you follow the rules, then the president will consider giving you some discounts. If you don’t follow the rules, you have to pay tariffs.” Trudeau said Trump launched a trade war to annex Canada Canada and Mexico condemned the United States for launching a trade war against them. Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau criticized this as a very “stupid” move at a press conference on Tuesday, saying that American families and Trump would soon feel the damage caused by the tariffs. He also accused Trump of doing this to annex Canada. Trudeau said: “The excuse he made for these tariffs is the fentanyl issue, which is complete nonsense… He wants to see the Canadian economy collapse completely because it will make it easier to annex us… We will never be the 51st state (of the United States).” He stressed that Canada does not want to fight a trade war with the United States, but it will not back down. Canada has imposed retaliatory tariffs of 25% on US imports worth 30 billion Canadian dollars (about 278 New Zealand dollars) from Tuesday until the United States cancels its tariffs on Canadian imports. If necessary, Canada will impose tariffs on another C$125 billion worth of U.S. products within 21 days.
Trudeau said Canada will file complaints through the World Trade Organization and the USMCA, and the federal and provincial governments of Canada are also discussing non-tariff measures. Ontario Premier Ford warned that if the United States continues to impose tariffs on Canada, Ontario will impose a 25% tariff on electricity exported to New York, Michigan and Minnesota, and may even cut off power supply. Some Canadian provinces, such as Ontario and Quebec, have banned government-owned stores from selling American alcoholic beverages.
Mexican President Sheinbaum said on Tuesday that Mexico will fight back against U.S. tariffs through tariffs and other means, and she will announce specific measures on Sunday (9th). She stressed that the U.S. tariffs on Mexico will affect the economies and people of both countries, and there will be no winners in a trade war.
Sheinbaum reiterated that Mexico will remain calm and revealed plans to call Trump this week, possibly on Thursday (6th).
