OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that incoming U.S. president Donald Trump is trying to distract from how costly his tariffs will be for American consumers by talking about making Canada the 51st state.
Trudeau made the comments in an interview on CNN late Thursday while in Washington, where he attended the funeral for the late U.S. president Jimmy Carter. He did not meet with Trump during his trip south of the border.
Trudeau declined to outline the specifics of Canada's response. A senior government official confirms Ottawa is looking to target American steel, ceramics, plastics and orange juice with retaliatory tariffs. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said at a news conference in Ottawa Thursday that Canada should not consider making oil and gas part of its retaliatory response.
"By leaking or sharing or hinting about what's on the list, it's trying to signal to the White House that Donald Trump's tariffs will be costliest to Americans," she said. But she also said Canada can't slap tariffs on items with surgical precision, since it's done by product categories. Ottawa can levy tariffs on orange juice, but not something so specific as Minute Maid products or orange juice from Florida - not without also hiking prices on juice from California and other states.
“President Trump has promised tariff policies that protect working Americans from the unfair practices of foreign companies and foreign markets," said Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the Trump-Vance transition team.
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