Canada’s outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dismissed U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s feedback about annexing Canada, calling them a distraction from the looming risk of tariffs on essential Canadian exports.
Trudeau, in Washington, D.C., for the state funeral of former President Jimmy Carter, addressed the remarks throughout an interview with CNN, firmly rejecting the thought of constructing Canada the “51st state.”
“That’s not going to happen. Canadians are incredibly proud of being Canadian. One of the ways we define ourselves most easily is, well, we’re not American. There is such a depth of pride that that’s not actually an issue,” he mentioned.
He recommended that Trump’s feedback had been a strategic transfer to divert consideration from extra urgent financial points.
“What I think is happening here is President Trump, who’s a very skillful negotiator, is getting people distracted by that conversation,” Trudeau mentioned.
Noting the potential affect of the proposed U.S. tariffs, he claimed that Trump is attempting “to take away from the conversation about 25% tariffs on oil, gas, electricity, steel, aluminum, lumber, and concrete, and everything American consumers buy from Canada is suddenly going to get a lot more expensive if he moves forward on these tariffs.”
“That’s something we need to focus on a little bit more,” he added.
Asked about his recommendation for his potential successor, Trudeau harassed the significance of collaboration.
“Yes, the American president has the capacity to hurt the Canadian economy. There’s no question about that. But anything an American president does to hurt the Canadian economy will also hurt American consumers, American workers, and American growth,” Trudeau mentioned.
He additional referred to as for the 2 nations to collaborate in addressing world challenges.
“We do better when we work together to take on the world, whether it’s China, Russia, or anywhere else. When we work together, we can’t be stopped.”
Since his election victory in November, Trump has referred to Canada because the “51st state.”
The U.S. president-elect beforehand threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian imports until Canada takes steps to considerably cut back the circulate of medicine and unlawful immigrants crossing into the U.S. He equally threatened Mexico with the tariffs.
Source: www.dailysabah.com