Following President Donald Trump’s imposition of massive tariffs, Canada
and Mexico have retaliated, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
cautioning that his actions will have “real consequences for the American people.”
In the over two weeks since he returned to the White House, President
Trump has made numerous changes to the way the US is managed.
Heck, among his first actions as president were revisions to immigration
and passports, which set records for the amount of executive orders he signed.
Additionally, the Trump administration has increased import duties on
nations such as China, Canada, and Mexico. For example, import duties
on items from China are 10%, while import duties on Canada and Mexico are 25%.
As you may imagine, Chinese, Mexican, and Canadian officials have not
been pleased with the new modifications.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated, just prior to the announcement
of the increased tariffs on Saturday, February 1, that “we’re ready with
a response, a purposeful, forceful but reasonable, immediate response.”
“We have Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C, depending on what the U.S. government
decides,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated at a press conference on Friday, January 31st.
“It is very important for the people of Mexico to know that we will always
defend the dignity of our people, that we will always defend respect for
our sovereignty, and engage in dialogue as equals, as we have always stated, without subordination.”
On Saturday night, the presidents of Canada and Mexico both declared
counter-tariffs in direct opposition to Trump’s executive order.
Canada is taxing $155 billion worth of US goods at a rate of 25%.
Trudeau stated, “It will have real consequences for you, the American people.”
“The actions taken by the White House split us apart instead of bringing us together,” the Canadian prime minister continued in his speech on Saturday.
In the meantime, Sheinbaum disclosed on Twitter that she has directed her economic minister to take action to safeguard Mexico’s interests.
“We categorically reject the White House’s slander that the Mexican government has alliances with criminal organisations, as well as any intention of meddling in our territory,” the president of Mexico wrote.
“If the United States government and its agencies wanted to address the serious fentanyl consumption in their country, they could fight the sale of drugs on the streets of their major cities, which they don’t do, and the laundering of money that this illegal activity generates that has done so much harm to its population.”
