Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has criticised US President Donald Trump's 25% auto tariffs, declaring the end of Canada’s deep economic and security integration with its neighbouring country.
Following US President Donald Trump’s introduction of the new auto tariffs, the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has come out with a response, stating that its old relationship with the United States, which was "based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation, is over".
While addressing the press in Ottawa after a cabinet meeting, Carney said Canadians must "fundamentally reimagine our economy" in the face of Trump's tariffs, according to a BBC report.
On Wednesday, Trump announced his next target in the global trade wars, imported vehicles and vehicle parts from Canada, the European Union, Japan, and South Korea, with a 25 percent tax. He signed it, saying: “This is permanent”. He also warned of the possibility of imposing further tariffs on key US trading partners.
PM Carney said that Canada would respond with retaliatory tariffs that will have a "maximum impact" on the US. He mentioned the original Canada-US Automotive Products Agreement signed in 1965, which was the most important deal in his lifetime.
"That's finished with these tariffs," he said in French, reported BBC.
He said that the US wasn’t a “reliable partner”. It is possible that with comprehensive negotiations, we could reestablish an element of confidence, but there will be no going backwards,” the Canadian leader said, as reported by CNN.
Carney said that tariffs imposed by the US, if permanent, would require “a broad renegotiation of our security and trade relationship with the United States.”
“We will need to dramatically reduce our reliance on the United States,” Carney continued.
“We will need to pivot our trade relationships elsewhere, and we will need to do things previously thought impossible at speeds we haven’t seen in generations.”
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Carney said that he is going to speak to Trump in the coming days but emphasised that any talks must uphold Canada's sovereignty. "We must fundamentally reimagine our economy. We will need to ensure that Canada can succeed in a drastically different world," he said, as per an ANI report.
Carney said he chose to go to France and the United Kingdom, “two long standing and reliable partners, friends and allies of Canada”, referring to his first trip as Prime Minister
‘Auto Industry To Be Paralysed In A Week’
As per the report, Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association of Canada, has warned that if these tariffs were to proceed, both countries’ auto industries would be paralysed in a week. “You're a publicly traded company whose share price is taking a beating, and you have a fiduciary obligation to shareholders,” he said.
However, he reassured that no plant would shut down. “My response was Ronald Reagan's response: Trust but verify," Ford said. "If they're opening or closing, it's going to be up to the CEOs."
How Will The Auto Tariff Work
On Wednesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford spoke with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about the impact to the province. During their talk, Lutnik explained that tariffs on vehicles from Canada and Mexico would be adjusted based on US content. For example, if a car built in Mexico contains 50 percent American parts, the tariff rate would be reduced to 12.5 percent instead of the full 25 percent.
The US has already partially imposed a blanket 25% tariff on Canadian goods, along with a 25% duty on all aluminium and steel imports.
Meanwhile, Trump responded on Truth Social early Thursday, warning that if Canada and the EU coordinated against the tariffs, the US would introduce even harsher trade measures.
"If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large-scale Tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had!" Trump wrote.
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