Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said Ottawa is hitting back against U.S. President Donald Trump‘s tariffs against Canada.
In a press conference held in Ottawa, he called Washington’s trade action “very dumb” and vowed to “hit back hard” as the country retaliates to try and get the tariffs lifted as soon as possible.
Here is a transcript of his remarks, including the English interpretation where he spoke in French.
Trudeau: So today the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same time, they’re talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator.
Make that make sense.
Canadians are reasonable and we are polite, but we will not back down from a fight — not when our country and the well-being of everyone in it is at stake. At the moment, the U.S. tariffs came into effect in the early hours of this morning, and so did the Canadian response.
Canada will be implementing 25 per cent tariffs against $155 billion worth of American goods, starting with tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods immediately, and tariffs on the remaining $125 billion of American products in 21 days’ time.
Today we will also be challenging these illegal actions by filing dispute resolution claims at the World Trade Organization and through the USMCA.
But in the meantime, our tariffs will remain in place until the U.S. tariffs are withdrawn and not a moment sooner. And should these tariffs not cease, we are in active and ongoing discussions with provinces and territories to pursue several non-tariff measures, measures which will demonstrate that there are no winners in a trade war.
Now, just like I did a month ago, I want to speak first directly to the American people.
We don’t want this. We want to work with you as a friend and ally, and we don’t want to see you hurt either. But your government has chosen to do this to you. As of this morning,…
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