MNI BRIEF: Canada Export Taxes Only If Broad Support- Trudeau
MNI (OTTAWA) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signaled Tuesday he will only move towards taxing exports to the U.S. of products like crude oil if it can be done with broad support from provinces who may feel they are being unduly punished, while accusing Donald Trump of seeking to wreck the economy so he can annex its northern neighbor.
“The most important thing we can do is make sure Canadians remain united,” Trudeau told reporters when asked about potential export taxes. “We have to make sure that no single part of the country is carrying a greater burden.” Leaders in Saskatchewan and Alberta who depend on energy and food shipments to the U.S. have been cooler to the idea of export taxes than colleagues in Ontario and Quebec who rely on auto and metals trade.
Canada will challenge tariffs at the WTO and the USMCA dispute panel because Trump's stated reason for emergency tariffs around fentanyl shipments are false, Trudeau said. “What he (Trump) wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy, because that will make it easier to annex us,” Trudeau said. “That will never happen.” (See: MNI INTERVIEW: BOC To See Trade War As Normal Recession- Tombe)