Tuesday21 January 2025
vesti.org.ua

Canada is prepared to respond to U.S. tariffs if Trump follows through on his threats, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Canada is prepared to respond to the imposition of trade tariffs by the United States if President Donald Trump follows through on his threats immediately after his inauguration.
Канада готова ответить на тарифы США, если Трамп осуществит свои угрозы, - сообщает Министерство иностранных дел.
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This is reported by RBK-Ukraine citing Reuters. Reports are also coming from Kontrakty.UA.

If Trump dares to carry out his threats, it could severely impact the economy since Canada exports 75% of all goods and services to the USA. Today, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly participated in negotiations in Washington aimed at preventing tariffs.

"We have a number of measures that are already prepared. These are, of course, tariffs related to imports. If President Trump goes ahead with this on Monday, we will be ready. We are prepared for the second round, and we are ready for the third round," she stated.

What the Canadian response might be

According to Reuters, citing sources, Canada may quickly impose tariffs on a small group of American goods. Including orange juice from Florida (where Trump's residence is located).

According to the source, the list of potential goods is quite broad, but before imposing tariffs, Canada will hold public consultations. The scale of the response will depend on the actions of the next U.S. president.

Preliminary estimates suggest that Canada could implement countermeasures on imports from the U.S. amounting to about $105 billion.

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson previously stated that critically important minerals could be subject to trade tariffs.

Why Trump wants to impose tariffs on imports from Canada

Trump repeatedly states that he wants to introduce a 25% tariff to push Canada to strengthen border control to stop the flow of illegal migrants and halt fentanyl smuggling. However, such a move violates the free trade agreement.

Canada has already announced a plan of nearly $1 billion to enhance border security. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that less than 1% of illegal immigrants and less than 1% of fentanyl enter the U.S. through the Canadian border.

For more details on what the new "trade wars" initiated by Trump mean for Ukraine and the world, read a separate article from RBK-Ukraine.

Recall that Canada previously announced it was ready to purchase more American goods to avoid the imposition of tariffs, including submarines.