US President Donald Trump (L) and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau | FPJ Web Team
The trade war during US president Donald Trump’s first term in the White House (2017-2021) was largely seen as a war between the United States and China, two of the biggest economies in the world.
Things look a little, perhaps a lot different in the second term of Donald Trump, which only started about 6 weeks ago.
Canada Retaliates
Trump’s much anticipated 25 per cent flat tariffs on goods imported from Canada & Mexico have kicked in, after a one-month stop gap, for ‘negotiations’ between the parties, i.e the US, Canada and Mexico.
The retaliation has been quick and swift. After China’s tariffs on March 4, Canada has reiterated its stance of reciprocal tariffs of 25 per cent.
In a post on X, Trudeau added, “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. Not when our country is at stake.”
A Dumb Thing To Do
The Canadian PM said the North American neighbour of the US will be implementing 25 per cent tariffs against USD 155 billion of American products. Starting with USD 30 billion worth of goods immediately and the remaining USD 125 billion in 21 days.
Furthermore, in a polemic speech, Trudeau called out US President Trump, or as Trudeau addressed him directly, ‘Donald’.
He attacked Trump, and said That the tariff is a very dumb thing to do
Previously, Canada, which is one the US’ biggest trading partners was impacted when the US imposed a flat 25 per cent tariff on aluminium and steel entering the United States.
Here, once again, Canada is the United States’ biggest supplier of both steel and aluminium to the United States.
Trump’s Response
Reacting to this, Trump, once again threatened Canada with more tariffs, and once again derided PM Trudeau as ‘Governor’.
In his post on Truth Social, Trump said, “Please explain to Governor Trudeau, of Canada, that when he puts on a Retaliatory Tariff on the U.S., our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!”
