OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian cabinet ministers will discuss on Friday how they could retaliate if the new U.S. administration imposes tariffs on imports from Canada, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said.
Canada’s Liberal government has repeatedly made clear it will strike back if President-elect Donald Trump goes ahead with a threat to slap 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada unless Ottawa does more to boost border security.
“We will be talking about retaliatory measures against potential tariffs from President-elect Trump, and we will be ready,” Joly told reporters ahead of a cabinet committee to discuss the matter.
“I think that when President Trump talks, we listen, and we need to take him very seriously, and we need to show the American people and folks and people around Trump that there will be real consequences.”
The Globe and Mail newspaper on Thursday, citing sources, said Canada was considering tariffs on a slew of U.S. products including orange juice, ceramic goods, some steel products, glassware, and a slew of plastic articles.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday recalled that during a bilateral trade dispute in 2018, Canada put tariffs on Heinz ketchup, playing cards, bourbon, and Harley Davidson motorcycles – “on things that would hurt American workers.”
Joly said she would be flying to Washington next week for talks with U.S. officials. Trudeau on Thursday met American business leaders and told them tariffs would raise prices, discourage growth and investment, and hit markets.