Stung by U.S. Tariff Plan, Canada Takes a Deep Breath
- 6 years ago
Stung by U.S. Tariff Plan, Canada Takes a Deep Breath
And on Friday, Mr. Trump also said that a trade war was "good"
and "easy to win." Laura Dawson, the director of the Canada Institute at the Wilson Center, a research organization in Washington, called the American move "risky," and said it could prompt other countries to cite national security grounds to slap tariffs on things like American corn and grain.
Since Mr. Trump was elected, Mr. Trudeau has sent a series of envoys — cabinet ministers, premiers
and a former prime minister, Brian Mulroney — on regular trips to the United States to meet with American officials, lawmakers, chambers of commerce and businesses, to convince them of the mutual benefit of free trade with their northern neighbor.
But as the news settled on Friday, Canadians took another breath and hoped
that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the army of cheerleaders he has deployed to charm American officials since President Trump was elected would cajole the United States back from the edge of a trade war.
He echoed the sentiment of his foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland,
that any tariffs on steel or aluminum were "absolutely unacceptable" — but he did not echo her foreboding statement that they might set off "responsive measures." Experts had some optimism that Mr. Trump might not go through with his plan of imposing tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum.
"It makes no sense to highlight that Canadian steel or aluminum might be a security threat to the United States," he continued, referring to the argument
that the imports threaten the United States’ national security.
Canada has declared many of the main American demands on Nafta to be unacceptable, and Mr. Trudeau has recently said it will walk away from the deal rather than accept a bad one — despite the fact
that a full 70 percent of the country’s exports go to the much larger American market.
And on Friday, Mr. Trump also said that a trade war was "good"
and "easy to win." Laura Dawson, the director of the Canada Institute at the Wilson Center, a research organization in Washington, called the American move "risky," and said it could prompt other countries to cite national security grounds to slap tariffs on things like American corn and grain.
Since Mr. Trump was elected, Mr. Trudeau has sent a series of envoys — cabinet ministers, premiers
and a former prime minister, Brian Mulroney — on regular trips to the United States to meet with American officials, lawmakers, chambers of commerce and businesses, to convince them of the mutual benefit of free trade with their northern neighbor.
But as the news settled on Friday, Canadians took another breath and hoped
that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the army of cheerleaders he has deployed to charm American officials since President Trump was elected would cajole the United States back from the edge of a trade war.
He echoed the sentiment of his foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland,
that any tariffs on steel or aluminum were "absolutely unacceptable" — but he did not echo her foreboding statement that they might set off "responsive measures." Experts had some optimism that Mr. Trump might not go through with his plan of imposing tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum.
"It makes no sense to highlight that Canadian steel or aluminum might be a security threat to the United States," he continued, referring to the argument
that the imports threaten the United States’ national security.
Canada has declared many of the main American demands on Nafta to be unacceptable, and Mr. Trudeau has recently said it will walk away from the deal rather than accept a bad one — despite the fact
that a full 70 percent of the country’s exports go to the much larger American market.