MNI BRIEF: Canada Warns Of Pain To U.S. From Trump Tariffs
MNI (OTTAWA) - Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Tuesday that while she believes U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's threatened 25% tariffs related to border security can be headed off, there will be economic pain for Americans if the plan is put into force.
“The fact is, we need them, and they also need us,” she told reporters, noting Canada used retaliatory tariffs in Trump's first term to roll back some border levies. "Canada is the largest market for the U.S. in the world, larger than China, Japan, the U.K. and France combined. It is also the case that the things we sell to the United States are the things they really need. We sell them oil, we sell them electricity, we sell them critical minerals and metals.” (See: MNI INTERVIEW:Canada To Match Trump Tax Cut-Ex Finance Staffer)
Earlier, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said that "if (U.S. refineries) don’t have access to Canadian crude, or it’s much more expensive, their alternative is crude from Venezuela or Mexico. I’m not sure that’s in the long-term interests of either Canada or the United States."