Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is unwilling to lift Canada's retaliatory tariffs on the United States if President Donald Trump leaves any US tariffs on Canada, a senior government official told The Associated Press.
The official confirmed Trudeau's stance on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorised to speak publicly on the matter. The official said Trump and Trudeau spoke by phone around midday.
Other Canadian officials publicly echoed Trudeau's position.
"We're not interested in meeting in the middle and having some reduced tariff. Canada wants the tariffs removed," Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, the leader of Canada's most populous province, agreed.
"Zero tariffs or nothing. This attack was not started by our country. This was started by President Trump. He decided to declare an economic war against our country and our province, and we're going to hold strong," Ford said.
Trump launched a new trade war Tuesday by imposing tariffs against Washington's three biggest trading partners, drawing immediate retaliation from Mexico, Canada and China and sending financial markets into a tailspin. Trump put 25 percent taxes, or tariffs, on Mexican and Canadian imports, though he limited the levy to 10 percent on Canadian energy.
A day after the new tariffs took effect, Trump said he would grant a one-month exemption for US automakers. The announcement came after Trump spoke on Wednesday with leaders of Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler and Jeep.
'Unpredictability and chaos'
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said they are not interested in going "through this psychodrama every 30 days so."
"There's too much unpredictability and chaos coming out of the White House right now," Joly said. "He wants to weaken us and once he has weakened us possibly try to annex Canada. He has said this in the past."
On April 2, Trump plans to announce what he calls "reciprocal" tariffs to match the tariffs, taxes and subsidies from other countries. That could dramatically increase the tariff rates charged globally while maintaining the risk of broader tariffs.
If the tariffs are not removed, Ford told the AP, the American and Canadian auto industries will last approximately 10 days before they start shutting down assembly lines in the US and Ontario.
"People are going to lose their jobs," Ford said.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he would talk Wednesday with Trump about the possible options regarding Canada and Mexico, saying that both countries are working to address the US president's concerns about drug trafficking.
