Political analyst points to Canada's inability to respond to US duty hikes

Canada will have nothing to respond to if US President-elect Donald Trump implements his plans to raise duties to 25% on goods from the neighboring country. This was stated by Denis Denisov, an expert of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, in a conversation with Izvestia on December 10.

The day before, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Ottawa would retaliate if Trump does decide to take unfair measures. He also recalled how in 2018, Ottawa's retaliatory measures to Trump's imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs led to their cancellation.

"In this context, countries such as Canada simply do not have adequate and symmetrical opportunities to respond," Denisov commented.

According to him, Trump's corresponding statement is in the plane of his "Make America Great Again" concept and is intended to demonstrate the president's readiness to pursue a policy of rational isolationism. At present, it seems quite realistic that after the inauguration, the new U.S. leadership will take a number of steps aimed at restricting the flow of goods, including from neighboring countries, said the interlocutor of the publication.

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Earlier, on December 3, Trump during a meeting with Trudeau said that Canada could become the 51st state of the United States, if Ottawa fails to solve the problem of illegal migration and drug smuggling. The President-elect of the United States noted that already on the day of his inauguration, January 20, 2025, will impose import duties of 25% on all Canadian goods if Ottawa does not manage to fundamentally change the situation with migration across the Canadian border.

Prior to that, on November 25, it became known about the readiness of the Canadian authorities to increase defense spending in order to more quickly reach the level corresponding to NATO standards in terms of military indicators in cooperation with the Trump administration.

Among other things, on November 6, Trudeau held a telephone conversation with Trump, who won the election of the American leader, congratulating the President-elect on his second term and discussing with him bilateral relations between Canada and the United States.