WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that it was “time to teach Canada you can’t do this anymore,” just days after trade talks between the neighboring countries broke down.
“I had a deal, that was a pretty good deal, you know, quite good,” Trump told Glenn Beck in an interview. “They don’t have anything that we have to have, okay, we can get by. I mean, there are a couple of things that would make it a little inconvenient, but we can get them elsewhere. And it’s time to teach Canada you can’t do this anymore.”
Trump imposed new 50% tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian imports on Saturday after talks between the two countries collapsed.
Canada hit back on Tuesday with retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion worth of U.S. annual imports and rolled out aid for businesses and workers, matching Washington’s latest duties dollar for dollar. They take effect on September 8.
Trump also announced 50% tariffs on Canadian autos and parts that will take effect on January 1. Canada has said that the U.S. refused to extend tariff relief to medium- and heavy-duty vehicles as one reason it did not reach an agreement.
The Canadian Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment on Wednesday.
White House adviser Peter Navarro predicted on Wednesday that the deal Canada will ultimately strike with the U.S. will be worse than what was offered last week.
“It just is not going to end well for Canada and I predict that the deal you got, that you turned your nose up, you’re never going to get that deal again,” Navarro said on C-SPAN. “Whatever you get is going to be less than that.”
Navarro added that the U.S. deal offered to Canada “made me uncomfortable” given how advantageous he thought it was for the U.S.’ northern neighbor.
“There’s no way economically they should have turned it down,” Navarro said.
(Reporting by Bo Erickson and Katharine Jackson; Editing by Michelle Nichols and Mark Porter)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
I am loving this.
Canada picked up fights with China, India and a host of other powerful nations over the last decade. Why? because it thought that the US had it’s back.
It took US munificence for granted. US magnanimity on trade terms and conditions and tariffs and it’s generous promise of defending Canada free-of-cost under the NATO umbrella made the Canadians arrogant and cocky.
Now, the rug has been pulled from under their feet.
Lo and behold, they want a trade deal with India now. India was an untouchable for them till the other day. Their clownish PM Trudeau and their giggly schoolgirl FM Melanie Joly insulted and humiliated India. Not just once but again and again.
And now these are the same people begging for a trade deal. Carney is boating about his ambition to trade and do business with 1.4 billion people. Cherry on the cake is that the giggling schoolgirl Melanie Joly is part of Carney’s cabinet too.