Ottawa: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canada is ready to deliver a “purposeful, forceful but reasonable, immediate” response if US President Donald Trump imposes tariffs on Canadian imports, local media reported.
The prime minister, delivering remarks at a meeting of the Council on Canada-US Relations in Toronto, said his country is ready for any scenario, Xinhua news agency reported quoting CBC News.
“It’s not what we want, but if he moves forward, we will also act,” Trudeau was quoted as saying.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, Public Safety Minister David McGuinty and Immigration Minister Marc Miller are all in the US capital making a final diplomatic push to convince Republican lawmakers and Trump’s team to sway the president, said the report.
Trump is expected to announce tariffs against Canada Saturday. Trudeau previously said Canada would push back and match the tariffs on the Canadian side dollar-for-dollar.
US President Trump said on Friday that Canadian oil would be hit with lower tariffs of 10 per cent, which could take effect later, 18 February.
The president also said he planned to impose tariffs on the European Union in the future, saying the bloc had not treated the US well.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Canada and Mexico duties were in response to “the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed 10s of millions of Americans”.
Canada and Mexico are the top US trading partners, accounting for large amount of goods imported into the US last year.
IANS
