OAN Staff James Meyers
12:10 PM – Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused President Donald Trump of declaring a “dumb” trade war on Canada — maintaining that his country “will not back down.”
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Trudeau spoke publicly hours after Trump enacted new tariffs against Mexico, Canada, and China.
He announced a 25% levy on “C$30 billion worth of U.S. imports, effective immediately.” Tariffs on another C$125 billion in U.S. goods will take effect in 21 days, he added, CNBC reported.
The prime minister went on to warn Trump and the U.S.
“A fight with Canada will have no winners,” Trudeau asserted, as he addressed reporters in Ottawa while discussing the country’s response to the tariffs. “They point out that even though you’re a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do,” he continued, addressing the president by his first name, Donald.
Trudeau pleaded for Canadians to “pull together,” and he vowed that Americans will feel the impact of these tariffs. Additionally, the outgoing Canadian leader accused Trump of purposely imposing the tariffs in an effort to collapse the Canadian economy — in order to make it easier to annex the country.
“We will never be the 51st state, but he can do damage to the Canadian economy, and he’s started this morning, but he is rapidly going to find out as American families are going to find out, that that’s going to hurt people on both sides of the border.”
Canada has the world’s ninth largest economy and sits at around $2.3 trillion, which is only nearly the same size as the U.S. state of New York.
Nevertheless, Canada is still known for providing the U.S. a number of agricultural products, including grains such as wheat, barley, and oats, along with meat products like beef, pork, and poultry.
The U.S. also imports vehicles and auto parts from Canada, including cars, trucks, engines, transmissions, tires, and other components.
Trudeau later mentioned that he still has not spoken with Trump since the tariffs have been put into effect.
“Today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada: their closest partner and ally — their closest friend. Canadians are reasonable, but we will not back down from a fight,” he wrote on X.
This comes after Trudeau already announced “retaliatory tariffs” on $30 billion Canadian dollars ($20.7 billion) worth of American goods.
In response, Trump confidently threatened to increase Canada’s tariffs even more on Tuesday.
“Please explain to Governor Trudeau, of Canada, that when he puts on a Retaliatory Tariff on the US, our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!” he wrote on his Truth Social account.
Trudeau has insisted that Canadians don’t “hate” Americans, but he described the tariffs as a response to a “policy decision by the American government designed to go after the Canadian economy.”
“I want to speak first directly to the American people. We don’t want this. We want to work with you as a friend and ally. We don’t want to see you hurt either. But your government has chosen to do this to you. As of this morning, markets are down and inflation is set to rise dramatically,” Trudeau told reporters.
During his announcement, Trudeau also urged Canadians to use their own country’s products, boycott American products, and stop vacationing in Florida.
Canada’s state premiers are expected to give their own addresses regarding the retaliatory tariffs on Tuesday.
In one of the first retaliatory measures announced, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that his state was officially canceling its contract with Elon Musk-owned Starlink — which helps people in times of disaster when their electricity goes out.
This comes after Trump’s tariffs went into full effect just after midnight on Tuesday, in what the president cited were failures of Mexico, Canada, and China to stop the flow of deadly fentanyl coming into the U.S.
Mexico is expected to respond with retaliatory measures on U.S. goods on Sunday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Tuesday.
“There is no motive or reason, nor justification that supports this decision that will affect our people and our nations,” she said.
Trudeau’s most likely successor, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, similarly announced that Canada will fight this.
“At 12:01 a.m., President Trump stabbed America’s best friend in the back. My message to the president is this — Canada will fight back,” he announced in a statement.
The new tariffs, which went into effect on Tuesday, impose a 25% levy on the U.S.’s North American neighbors and 20% on China.
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