Trudeau Told Trump US Would Also Suffer if Tariffs Imposed: Report

Toronto: Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc stated that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Donald Trump that imposing tariffs on Canadian goods would also negatively impact Americans.

LeBlanc mentioned that the two leaders discussed the US tariff plan during a dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club.

"The prime minister of course spoke about the importance of protecting the Canadian economy and Canadian workers from tariffs, but we also discussed with our American friends the negative impact that those tariffs could have on their economy, on affordability in the United States as well," the Canadian minister who is also responsible for border security said.

However, after dinner at Trump's, Trudeau returned home without any assurances to the president-elect on whether he back away from threatened tariffs on all products from the major American trading partner. Meanwhile, Trump called the talks productive but showed no signs of backing off from his plan, which Canada views as unfairly treating it the same as Mexico in terms of drug and migrant flow into the US.

'Stop this Invasion': Trump Vows 25% Tariff

This development comes after US president-elect Trump said that he would impose a sweeping 25 per cent tariff on everything imported from Mexico and Canada, with the prices increasing that could follow his campaign to promise to give Americans a break from inflation.

Taking to his platform Truth Social, Trump announced an additional 10 per cent tariff on Chinese imports, citing Beijing’s alleged failure to execute drug dealers and curb fentanyl exports to the US.

He vowed these tariffs would take effect on the first day of his administration, remaining in place until “Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country”

Trump further claimed that Canada and Mexico had the “absolute right and power” to address US border concerns, implicitly urging both nations to increase border patrol efforts.

Trudeau Rejects Trump's Plan

However, Trudeau, speaking from Parliament Hill, dismissed the proposed tariffs as “unproductive and counter to the spirit of partnership that has defined the North American relationship.”

“These unilateral actions threaten to undermine the economic ties that benefit millions of workers and families on both sides of the border,” he said.

"Canada remains committed to working with the United States and Mexico to address shared challenges, including migration and the opioid crisis. However, we will not be coerced into policy changes that do not reflect our values or sovereignty," Trudeau added.

(With inputs from AP)