Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said President Donald Trump's comments about the possibility of annexing Canada are a tactic aimed at distracting the public from the impact of his proposed tariffs.
Trump will impose a 25% tariff on all Canadian imports unless Ottawa tightens border security, President Trump said Tuesday, saying he is considering using “economic power” to take over Canada. .
Asked about Trump's comments, Trudeau said: “What's going on here is that President Trump, who is a very skilled negotiator, is somewhat distracting people from that conversation.” told CNN.
“Oil, gas, electricity, steel, aluminum, wood, concrete, and everything American consumers buy from Canada. [are] “If he moves forward with these tariffs, all of a sudden they're going to be much more expensive,” he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this week that there is no “snowball possibility” of Canada becoming part of the United States, and reiterated on CNN that Ottawa would take countermeasures if President Trump followed through on that threat.
Trudeau recalled that during the 2018 bilateral trade dispute, Canada imposed tariffs on “things that hurt American workers,” including Heinz ketchup, Trump, bourbon and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
“But we don't want to do that because it would drive up prices for Canadians and hurt our closest trading partners,” he added.
