The leaders of Canada and Mexico strongly criticized President Trump today, just hours after he announced a 25% tariff on goods from both countries. They also made it clear that they would retaliate by implementing their own tariffs on U.S. imports.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shared that he and Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo had come to an agreement to jointly push back against Trump’s newly implemented tax program, which he claims is designed to stop the flow of drugs into the United States.
Trump’s new measures include a 25% tariff on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, while Chinese imports will face a lower 10% tariff. The U.S. will also impose a 10% tax on energy products from Canada.
In response, Canada is set to apply a 25% tariff on approximately $155 billion worth of U.S. goods, such as beer, wine, bourbon, fruits and juices, vegetables, clothing, shoes, and perfume.
“Many of us will be deeply affected. A lot of people will go through dark times. We’re asking you to support one another, to be there for your friends, your neighbors, and your fellow Canadians,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau, who is scheduled to leave office within the next six weeks, called Trump’s tariffs a “threat targeting the entire country” and suggested that these actions are a betrayal of Canada’s “closest ally and neighbor.”
Earlier today, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo responded by ordering retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. and condemned Trump’s claims that the Mexican government maintains ties with criminal groups and cartels.
“If such an alliance exists anywhere, it is in the United States armories that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups, as demonstrated by the United States Department of Justice itself in January of this year,” Sheinbaum stated on X.
“If the United States government and its agencies wanted to address the serious consumption of fentanyl in their country, they could, for example, combat the sale of narcotics on the streets of their main cities, which they do not do, and the money laundering generated by this illegal activity that has done so much harm to their population,” Sheinbaum continued.
Sheinbaum mentioned that she had instructed her economy minister to “implement Plan B,” which includes “tariff and non-tariff measures,” though the specifics of these measures remain unclear.
“To this end, I propose to President Trump that we establish a working group with our best public health and security teams. Problems are not resolved by imposing tariffs, but by talking and dialoguing, as we did in recent weeks with your State Department to address the phenomenon of migration; in our case, with respect for human rights,” Sheinbaum concluded.
{Matzav.com}