Trudeau responds to Trump tariffs as trade war ramps up

Donald Trump put very specific stipulations for Mexico and Canada to meet regarding the border or he would implement a 25% tariff on all goods.

This week, Trump announced the countries had not met his requirements, so the tariffs were implemented, which has resulted in an all-out tariff war with Canada and PM Justin Trudeau.

No Room for Delay

This is posturing and leverage as far as Trump is concerned, but it is already creating global turmoil.

Trump stated, “Tomorrow — tariffs 25% on Canada and 25% on Mexico. And that’ll start. They’re going to have to have a tariff.”

Trump wanted more effort to stop the fentanyl trade in Canada, and for Mexico, it was about illegal crossings. Trump is also hoping these tariffs will spur more manufacturing in the United States, as any company building or manufacturing here will be exempt from the tariffs, according to Trump.

Trump’s announcement rattled the stock markets, with the S&P 500 index dropping a full two points after the announcement. Additionally, in anticipation of the tariffs, some stores have already started to push prices for goods higher, bringing about concerns of a full-blown recession.

Trudeau and Trump Trade Barbs

PM Trudeau, who is on thin ice in Canada, slammed Trump after the announcement, stating, "So today the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same time, they are 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.”

Trudeau announced reciprocal tariffs, but most people don’t realize that Canada already has considerable tariffs in place on many US goods. Trudeau added that the additional tariffs on goods will remain in place until Trump removes his tariffs.

That brought about a response from Trump, who called Trudeau comments, “very dumb,” adding, "when he puts a Retaliatory Tariff on the U.S., our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!"

Trudeau responded, "What he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy. Because that'll make it easier to annex us…. Now, first of all, that's never going to happen. We will never be the 51st state. But yeah, he can do damage to the Canadian economy. And he's started this morning.”

It Gets Worse

In addition to the tariffs, Canada is now threatening to cut off electricity exports to the United States, with Ontario Premier Doug Ford stating, “If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do everything — including cut off their energy with a smile on my face.”

He later added, “They rely on our energy. They need to feel the pain. They want to come at us hard, we’re going to come back twice as hard.”

Getting into a tariff war is one thing, but having energy cut, well, that is a different matter entirely. We can surely get electricity from other sources, but that will likely cause prices to skyrocket.

Again, I understand what Trump is trying to accomplish here, but let’s keep in mind that he ran on lowering costs, not putting them through the roof. Most people who voted for him are not going to tolerate this, which will kill Republicans in the 2026 and 2028 elections. I am not saying that Trump should roll over by any means, but he needs to get this fixed sooner rather than later or it will all blow up in his face.