‘They need to feel the pain’: Canada hits back at Trump’s tariffs

A Canadian Premier has made a stunning threat to cut off the US “with a smile on my face” in response to Trump’s fresh tariffs.

A Canadian Premier has hit back at Donald Trump’s fresh tariffs, threatening to cut off energy to the US “with a smile on my face”.

“If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do everything – including cut off their energy with a smile on my face,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Monday, hours before Mr Trump’s 25 per cent tariff took effect just after midnight.

“They rely on our energy, they need to feel the pain. They want to come at us hard, we’re going to come back twice as hard.”

Mr Ford repeated his previous call to match Mr Trump’s tariffs dollar for dollar.

“That’s exactly what we’re going to do,” he said. “The provinces have a big say in it, but it’s the federal government that’s leading the charge, and we’re going to stand shoulder to shoulder no matter who’s in the federal government.”

“I [didn’t] start this tariff war, but we’re going to win this tariff war.”

In 2023, Ontario directly powered 1.5 million homes in the US.

Mr Ford earlier said he would stop his province’s shipments of nickel, warning Canada is ready to respond to the US like “they’ve never seen before”.

“The market is going to go downhill faster than the American bobsled team. It’s going to be an absolute disaster for both countries,” he told NBC News.

“There’s no country in the world that buys more products off the U.S. than we do. We’re the No. 1 trading customer to 28 states, and a lot of them are red states. They’re going to feel the pain like they’ve never felt before.”

‘Very dumb’: Trudeau goes nuts at Trump

It comes as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – who will step down as PM in days – has hit back at Mr Trump’s “dumb” trade war and accused the President of trying to cause the collapse of Canada’s economy to make it easier for the United States to annex his country.

“Today, the United States has launched a trade war against Canada – its closest partner and ally, its closest friend,” Mr Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa.

“At the same time they’re talking about working positively with Russia, appearing Vladimir Putin: a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense.

“Canadians are reasonable, and we are polite. But we will not back down from a fight. Not when our country and the wellbeing of everyone in it is at stake.”

Mr Trudeau added there was “absolutely no justification or need whatsoever” for the tariffs imposed by the US on Canada.

Addressing the US President directly, Mr Trudeau said that while he thinks the President is a “very smart guy,” the tariffs are a “very dumb thing to do”.

“We two friends fighting is exactly what our opponents around the world want to see.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has launched a stunning attack on Donald Trump’s ‘dumb’ trade war. Picture: Dave Chan/AFP

Fears that the tariff spat is rapidly devolving into the most brutal trade war of modern times sent global markets lower, with the S&P 500 – a major Wall Street index – extending recent losses to erase all of its gains since Mr Trump’s US election victory in November.

The President had announced – and then paused – blanket 25 per cent tariffs on imports from major trading partners Canada and Mexico in February, accusing them of failing to stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

But he pushed ahead with them on Tuesday, citing a lack of progress on both fronts. And after Canada retaliated, Mr Trump quickly threatened to hit it again, mocking Mr Trudeau’s position as the country’s premier.

“Please explain to Governor Trudeau, of Canada, that when he puts on a Retaliatory Tariff on the US, our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!” he wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform, referring to the Canadian leader with the title used for heads of US states.

US President Donald Trump quickly threatened to hit it again in retaliation. Picture: Roberto Schmidt/AFP

The sweeping duties will hit US imports from both US neighbours, affecting everything from avocados to the lumber crucial for building US homes, and hampering supply chains for key sectors like cars.

Addressing the American people, Mr Trudeau said that “we don’t want this”.

“We want to work with you as a friend, an ally, and we don’t want to see you hurt either – but your government has chosen to do this to you,” he said.

“As of this morning markets are down and inflation is set to rise dramatically all across your country. Your government has chosen to put American jobs at risk at the thousands of workplaces that succeed because of materials from Canada or because of consumers in Canada or both. They’ve chosen to raise costs for American consumers on everyday essential items like groceries and gas, on major purchases like cars and homes and everything in between.”

Mr Trudeau said the trade war would “first and foremost harm American families.”

‘We two friends fighting is exactly what our opponents around the world want to see,’ Mr Trudeau said. Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Trump also inked an order Monday to increase a previously imposed 10 per cent tariff on China to 20 per cent – piling atop existing levies on various Chinese goods.

Beijing condemned the “unilateral imposition of tariffs by the US”, filing a complaint with the World Trade Organisation and threatening to impose 10 and 15 per cent levies on a range of agricultural imports from the United States.

Pushing up prices

Analysts and businesses have warned that the higher import costs could push up prices for consumers – which could complicate efforts to bring down inflation, one of the issues that got Mr Trump elected.

That includes at grocery stores – Mexico supplied 63 per cent of US vegetable imports and nearly half of US fruit and nut imports in 2023, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Brian Cornell, the chief executive of the US retail giant Target, said that consumers “will likely see price increases” of some fruits and vegetables over the next couple of days.

“If there’s a 25 per cent tariff, those prices will go up,” he told CNBC.

“The giant wildcard here, obviously, is how the consumers are going to react to the price increases,” Matthew Bilunas, the chief financial officer at US electronics retailer Best Buy, told investors during a conference call on Tuesday.

China’s foreign ministry vowed to fight the US trade war to the ‘bitter end’. Picture: Pedro Pardo/AFP

Housing costs could also be hit. More than 70 per cent of imports of two key materials home builders need – softwood lumber and gypsum – come from Canada and Mexico, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Truck drivers at the Otay Mesa border crossing in Mexico told AFP they were already feeling the impact as they waited to cross into the United States early Tuesday.

Fight to ‘the bitter end’

Ottawa’s retaliatory 25 per cent tariffs on $30 billion of goods went into effect early Tuesday, and Trudeau said that they would expand to “the remaining $125 billion of American products in 21 days time.” “Canadians are reasonable. We are polite. We will not back down from a fight,” he said.

Meanwhile, China said its tariffs against the United States will come into effect next week and will impact tens of billions of dollars in imports, from soybeans to chickens.

Beijing also announced that imports of US lumber have been suspended, and that soybean shipments from three American exporters have been halted, as the country’s foreign ministry vowed to fight the US trade war to the “bitter end”.