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Donald Trump has defended his new 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, claiming the country cannot survive without the US.
The White House announced the sweeping round of import duties – due to come into effect next month – on Monday, igniting fresh tensions between Washington and Ottawa.
Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, said his country was “united” in the face of such threats. He spoke with Trump earlier on Tuesday.
“Canada has been very, very tough on us over the years, for many years, and no other president’s done anything about it,” the US president said in the Oval Office. “In all fairness to them, they need us to survive. Without us, there’s no way they can survive.”
Earlier this week, the White House said that the new levies were because Canada has unfairly discriminated against US cars, alcohol and dairy products. The tariffs will go into effect in 30 days, leaving time for possible discussions between the two countries.
Carney told reporters: “We agreed to intensify negotiations in the coming weeks, and the team and myself look forward to doing that.”
The tariffs will hit a wide range of products, the White House said, including wine, hockey sticks and cement. They also include goods previously protected from import taxes under the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) agreement.
Trump told members of the press that the latest round of tariffs was not in response to the Canadian wildfire smoke that spread across North America last week.
On Friday, Trump blasted Canada for its response to the persistent wildfires and the smoke that affected about 109 million people across the midwest, mid-Atlantic and north-east.
“The cost is incalculable!” Trump raged on social media. “This is Willful Negligence, and becoming a yearly occurrence, costing the United States Billions of Dollars, which cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying.”
However, the president told reporters on Tuesday that his administration was looking at those tariffs “separately”.
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