Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assured this Monday that his government will “react” if United States President-elect Donald Trump imposes new “unfair” tariffs on Canadian imports, threatening to approve taxes on Canadian goods. . neighboring country, as was the case during the previous Republican mandate.

Canada “will respond to unfair tariffs in many ways, and we are still looking for the right ways to respond, but it was our response to unfair tariffs on steel and aluminum that led to the removal of those tariffs last time,” he said in a statement. statement before the Chamber of Commerce in Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia in the east of the country.

“The fact is that we put tariffs on bourbon, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, playing cards, Heinz ketchup, cherries and a number of other things that were very carefully selected because they had political influence on the president’s party and its allies. Trudeau explained the tariffs he approved in 2018 in response to Trump’s bets on Canadian steel and aluminum, which he claimed succeeded in defeating the measure. magnate.

It’s the prime minister’s sharpest remarks since the Republican vowed to impose a 25 percent tariff on “all” goods from Mexico and Canada, alluding to the “illegal migrants” and “crime and drugs” he said were crossing the border. . .

Trudeau acknowledged that if implemented, Trump’s new measure would have “devastating consequences for the Canadian economy.” Even so, he warned, “one of the most important things they (should) do is not panic,” advocating instead a thoughtful approach to reaching an agreement with the next White House chief and avoiding damage to the two countries’ economies.

In this sense, both leaders discussed the issue in a meeting after Trump’s statement, in which they assured that they would work together to solve problems such as the fentanyl crisis, although the American did not mention the tariff.

The Prime Minister insists the tycoon must be taken seriously when he threatens to impose tariffs, warning that negotiating trade issues with Trumo will now be “a little more difficult” compared to his first term.

“Their approach will often be to challenge the people, to destabilize the negotiating partner, to introduce uncertainty and sometimes even a little chaos into the established corridors of democracies and institutions,” Trudeau said. (Europe Press).