President Donald Trump lashed out again at Canada a day after America’s northern neighbor unveiled retaliatory tariffs to escalate the trade war he started months ago.
In a phone interview with right-wing radio presenter Glenn Beck on Wednesday morning, Trump complained that Ottawa had “taken advantage of the United States for many decades.”
“They are one of the worst countries in the world to deal with there, and this has gone on for many years,” he said.
The president continued grousing about “unbelievable” tariffs which Canada has long imposed on certain American dairy products in a regime similar to what the United States does with imported beef and bragged about how he has upended the relationship between Washington and Ottawa with his trade war.
“I just said we’re taking them on, and I took them on at the beginning, but we had so many other things to do because the country was a mess. But I said we’re going to take them on,” he said.
He added that Canada simultaneously places tariffs on American goods and somehow “take[s] advantage of us as though they were a state” even though states are prohibited from imposing taxes on imports from other states under the U.S. Constitution.
“They’ve taken our car industry, and they’ve taken our agriculture industry … you know the farmers can’t sell anything in there because the tariffs are so enormous, and yet they want to sell in us without any tax.”
Trump also said that Canada, one of the country’s largest trading partners and energy sources, does not “have anything that we have to have” and suggested that Americans “can get by” without trade from Canada.
“There are a couple of things that would make it a little inconvenient, but we could get them elsewhere. And it’s time to teach Canada you can’t do this anymore.”
The president’s outburst against the ally with which America shares the world’s largest unguarded border came less than a day after the Canadian government matched Trump’s most recent round of tariffs with a slate of retaliatory trade moves against the U.S.
Canada, which imports roughly $272 billion in U.S. goods every year, will double its existing counter-tariffs on American steel and aluminum products to 50 percent, while new tariffs of 15, 25 and 50 percent will be applied to more than $20 billion worth of about 700 U.S. goods, including clothing, furniture, video game consoles and other electronics, among other goods.
Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said on Tuesday that his country “must respond” to Trump’s latest attacks.
“We did not choose this conflict, but when our economic integration is used as a weapon rather than the foundation for a win-win partnership, we need to stand up,” he said.
He added that the new taxes, which would take effect on September 8, are “proportionate, targeted and strategic,” designed to “match dollar for dollar, rate for rate” against Trump’s tariff agenda.
The Canadian federal government also plans to cushion the economic blow from the latest battle in the trade war with a $5.4 billion package to boost support for impacted workers and businesses.