Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday that his country will not back down from a fight against the trade war initiated by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trudeau told a press conference that there is no justification for the trade war Canada and the U.S. are entangled in, and Canada will challenge Trump's moves.
The Canadian government has hit back with an initial 30 billion Canadian dollars (21 billion U.S. dollars) in tariffs on U.S. goods, with the promise to add another 125 billion Canadian dollars more in 21 days' time.
Trudeau vowed that American families, and Trump, will soon feel how damaging the tariffs are.
Speaking to the camera, Trudeau addressed Trump directly by saying that "This is a very dumb thing to do".
Trudeau accused Trump of wanting to "see a complete collapse of the Canadian economy", believing that's the reason Trump is moving ahead so aggressively.
He called the president's claims the tariffs are needed because of fentanyl seeping across the border from Canada to the U.S. "unjustified and false excuse".
Responding to Canada's counter tariff package, Trump said on Tuesday on social media platform that when Canada implements the retaliatory tariff, the U.S.reciprocal tariff will "immediately increase by a like amount".
On Feb 1, Trump signed an executive order to impose 25 percent tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada, with a 10 percent tariff increase specifically for Canadian energy products.
On Feb 3, Trump announced that the additional tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada would be deferred for one month, allowing more time for negotiations.
The 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada took effect on Tuesday.
Canada "will not back down from a fight" against trade war: PM
