PM says customspoons will be ‘powerful but reasonable’

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada’s response to US President Donald Trump’s 25 percent duty, which he has threatened to introduce as early as Saturday, will be “powerful but reasonable” and that federal and provincial governments worked to remove Internal trade barriers to soften any financial battle.

In comments Friday morning before a meeting with his advisory advice on the links between Canada and the United States said Mr. Trudeau that the country was at a critical moment when Trump repeated this threat to impose on the tax on Thursday.

“If the president chooses to implement any tariffs against Canada, we are ready with an answer – a targeted, powerful but reasonable, immediate response,” Mr. Trudeau to journalists before the meeting convened behind closed doors in a Toronto office tower in the center. He did not detail any specific measures.

Mr. Trump’s comments Thursday that the customs came and that he had not yet decided whether Canadian oil would be covered, appeared in violation of statements from his own nominees to trade secretary, Howard Lutnick, who suggested that immediate trade fees could be avoided by the fact that Strengthen border measures.

Mr. Trudeau also said Friday that his Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, Anita Anand, met with provincial trade ministers in the same building at the center to discuss “ambitious proposals” to remove the many trade barriers between provinces. Economists have warned that internal trading barriers cost Canada’s economy billions of dollars a year, and provincial premieres have agreed to lift them may be a way of equalizing the damage that US tariffs have done.

The Prime Minister said it remained unclear exactly what US customs measure would look like, warning that the move would also hurt the US economy and undermine the collective security of the two countries.

He said the federal government has responded to the concerns that Trump raised when he first threatened the customs: the movement of drug fentanyl and illegal migrants across the border from Canada into the US-pointed at Ottawa’s $ 1.3 billion border plan, revealed late last year. He said the first new border patrol helicopters took flight earlier this week, and new dog teams and imaging technology were deployed to stop the flow of drugs.

He also said that the border was already safe and safe, and that less than 1 percent of fentanyl and illegal crossings into the United States come from Canada: “We are obliged to keep it that way.”

Mr. Trudeau also highlighted already implemented changes at the border and said they showed results. In December, the government ended the exercise of “flag poling”, which sees temporary residents of Canada travel to the United States only to turn around immediately and access Canadian immigration services. To stop this practice was to save Canada and US border officials time and resources, he said.

And increased security of visa applications, he said, has resulted in a fall of 89 percent in illegal crossings of foreign citizens in the United States during the second half of last year.

“This is real progress that, as the President’s Trade Secretary nominated, the second day recognized, demonstrating that we are obliged to the relationship between Canada-US, which is obliged to maintain the security and security of our common border,” Mr. said. Trudeau.

Mr. Trudeau said that Canada would continue to make his case that trading in Canada is good at the long -term prosperity and security of the United States, and noticed Canada’s steel and aluminum, critical minerals and pure energy as well as its “stable democratic institutions, shared values ​​and the best workers in the world. “

But he also said that Canada will not return and reiterated that all Canada’s assets could be used to respond – repeating an attitude opposite by Alberta -Prime Minister Danielle Smith and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, which objects to any potential for an oil export ban or Export tax must be used as leverage.

“If the tariffs are implemented against Canada, we will answer. We will not give up until tariffs are removed, and of course everything is on the table, ”said the prime minister.

He also added that no matter what action Canada takes would be “fair across the country” and that “all Canadians will share the job of standing up for our interests and honestly standing up to defend the most successful trade relationship in the world. “

But he warned that the road in front could be rocky.

“Our nation could face difficult times in the coming days and weeks, and although Canadians may be anxious and concerned, I want them to know that the federal government and actually all government orders have their backs,” Mr. Trudeau.