Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has warned of a swift and strong response if the United States proceeds with its plan to impose tariffs on Canadian goods, as reported by CBC News.
“We will continue to do that work and do everything necessary to avoid these tariffs coming in, but like I said, if on Tuesday there are unjustified tariffs brought in on Canada, we will have an immediate and extremely strong response, as Canadians expect,” Trudeau said.
Growing Trade Tensions Between US and Canada
This statement comes amid rising tensions between the two countries over trade policies. US President Donald Trump has frequently criticized Canada and Mexico, accusing them of being sources of illicit drug trafficking into the US, particularly fentanyl.
As a result, Trump has confirmed the implementation of tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports starting March 4, with reciprocal tariffs taking full effect from April 2.
Trudeau Defends Canada’s Border Security Efforts
Trudeau assured that Canada is committed to combating drug trafficking and is not a primary source of fentanyl smuggling into the United States.
“The first thing on tariffs is to emphasize that our government, and indeed all of Team Canada—premiers, business leaders, community leaders—are focused on one thing: making sure that come Tuesday and for the weeks that follow, there are no tariffs imposed on Canada,” Trudeau said, according to CBC News.
“The tariffs that the president speaks of for next week are centered around the fentanyl crisis that they’re facing in the United States, but that we are also facing in Canada,” he added.
Highlighting Canada’s efforts to prevent fentanyl trafficking, he said:
“For months now, I’ve been emphasizing that less than one per cent of the fentanyl that arrives in the United States comes from Canada. But we know that even that one per cent, or less than one per cent, should be reduced, which is why we’ve invested USD 1.3 billion in strengthening our border capacities with Blackhawk helicopters, drones, and 10,000 personnel patrolling our borders to keep Canadians and Americans safe.”
Trump Justifies Tariffs, Cites Fentanyl Crisis
On February 4, Trump temporarily paused tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico for 30 days, claiming he had secured new border security commitments from both nations.
However, Trump remains firm on his stance that drugs, including fentanyl, continue to pour into the United States from its northern and southern neighbors.
“Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels. A large percentage of these Drugs, much of them in the form of Fentanyl, are made in, and supplied by China. More than 100,000 people died last year due to the distribution of these dangerous and highly addictive POISONS,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Declaring his commitment to reducing drug smuggling, he added:
“Millions of people have died over the last two decades. The families of the victims are devastated and, in many instances, virtually destroyed. We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH 4 will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled.”
Additionally, China will face an extra 10% tariff starting March 4.