“It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada. I look forward to seeing the Governor again soon so that we may continue our in-depth talks on Tariffs and Trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for all,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
This comes after Trudeau attended a dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on November 30.
Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico unless they stem the flow of migrants and drugs, The Associated Press reported.
On Monday, the Canadian PM, at an event organised by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, stated that Americans are “beginning to wake up to the real reality that tariffs on everything from Canada would make life a lot more expensive”. He even noted that he would retaliate if Trump went ahead with the move.
Acknowledging the 25% tariffs on imports would be ‘devastating’ for Canada’s economy, Trudeau claimed that it would “also, however, mean real hardship for Americans as well.”
According to Fox News, Trudeau earlier argued the high tariffs would ‘kill’ the country’s economy, following which Donald Trump joked that Canada could become the 51st state of the US to avoid these tariffs. His comment caused Trudeau to laugh nervously, sources told the news outlet.
“Let’s not kid ourselves in any way, shape or form, 25% tariffs on everything going to the US would be devastating for the Canadian economy,” Trudeau said at the event.
Trudeau said that Americans import 65% of crude oil from Canada. “Just about all the natural gas exported from Canada goes to the United States. They rely on us for steel and aluminium. They rely on us for a range of agricultural imports. All of those things would get more expensive,” he said.
Trump recently in an interview with NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ said that he could not guarantee that the promised tariffs on key US foreign trade partners would not raise prices on the consumers in the US.
Several economists have recently said that companies will have less choice but to pass along the added costs, which will ultimately raise prices for food, clothing, automobiles and other things.
