Trudeau says duties will be imposed if a trade war with the U.S. breaks out

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Ottawa is ready to respond by imposing retaliatory duties against the United States if President-elect Donald Trump carries out his threat to start a trade war in North America. Bloomberg news agency said on January 12.

"As we did last time, Canada is prepared to respond with tariffs as needed. We are the largest export partner of some 35 different U.S. states, and anything that thickens the border between us ends up costing American citizens and American jobs," Trudeau said.

The prime minister said the Canadian government is not planning a trade war with the new White House administration, but will be forced to retaliate if Washington imposes duties on products.

"Less than 1 percent of illegal migrants, less than 1 percent of the fentanyl that comes into the United States comes from Canada. So our country is not the problem. We've actually responded to his request to do more by investing billions of dollars to further strengthen the security of our borders," the Canadian prime minister said.

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Earlier on January 10, Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that Canada is preparing retaliatory monetary levies on U.S. products if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his threats to impose 25 percent duties on Canadian goods. It is specified that trade duties on American products will be imposed on a dollar-for-dollar basis, which implies the imposition of interest rates similar to those that Trump would impose against Canadian products.

Prior to that, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Dec. 10, 2024, that Ottawa would retaliate if Trump imposed 25 percent duties on all of the country's goods. Trudeau called such measures unfair, noting that the country is looking for ways to respond.

Earlier, on December 3, Trump said during a meeting with Trudeau that Canada could become the 51st state of the United States if Ottawa fails to address the problem of illegal migration and drug smuggling. The President-elect of the United States noted that on the day of his inauguration, January 20, he will impose import duties of 25% on all Canadian goods if Ottawa fails to fundamentally change the situation with migration across the Canadian border.