Canada is preparing to strike back hard with retaliatory tariffs if Trump starts a trade war
CNNCNN — Canada is preparing to retaliate with an exhaustive list of tariffs on American goods if President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his plans to add a steep 25% import tax on Canadian goods, people familiar with the matter told CNN. “I think we have to be ready,” said Melanie Joly, Canada’s foreign minister, during a press briefing in Ottawa Friday, as she was going into a cabinet meeting to discuss the list of retaliatory tariffs. “I think that when President Trump talks, we listen, and we need to take him very seriously,” Joly said, adding that it was important for the president-elect and the people advising him to know there would be consequences if he imposes tariffs on Canadian products and that Canada has “leverage.” The tariffs could deal a blow to Canadian businesses, which are preparing for a trade war with the United States, according to Goldy Hyder, CEO of the Business Council of Canada. “Some have said we should just simply mirror their tariffs, others have said we should be more temperate in our response to get their attention, others have said we should ‘swing big’ and respond with great strength.” Hyder told CNN that Canadian business leaders have been preparing for a Trump presidency for nearly a year, but he noted that the implications of each strategy are still being analyzed. During a press conference on Tuesday, Trump would not rule out using “economic force” to make a merger with Canada possible and said the United States doesn’t “need” anything made in Canada.