Trump wants Canada’s economy to ‘collapse’ to make annexation ‘easier’: Trudeau
Canada’s premier has threatened to cut off US electricity exports ‘with a smile on my face’, saying ‘they need to feel the pain’ as Donald Trump’s trade war rages.
The premier of Canada’s most populous province threatened to retaliate and cut off energy to the US “with a smile on my face” as President Trump’s new 25 per cent tariffs on imports took effect.
“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 vowed, the Toronto Sun reported.
“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.”
The US is a major customer of Canada’s electricity.
Canada and Ontario didn’t start this trade war with President Trump, but Team Canada is ready to win it.
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) March 4, 2025
As a first step in our response, Ontario will rip up our contract with Starlink, take U.S. alcohol off LCBO’s shelves and ban U.S. companies from government procurements. pic.twitter.com/ppabqSVjjR
Ontario alone powered 1.5 million homes in the US in 2023 and is a major exporter of electricity to New York, as well as other border states like Michigan and Minnesota.
The senior Canadian official’s threats to pull the plug on power came just hours before Mr Trump’s tariff actions went live at 12:01 a.m.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the premier was talking about all Canadian provinces cutting off energy exports to the US or just his province.
Mr Ford doubled down, though, on a prior promise to match Mr Trump’s 25 per cent tax on all products entering the United States from Canada, Mexico and China dollar for dollar.“I [didn’t] start this tariff war, but we’re going to win this tariff war,” Ford said.
Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada to destroy the country’s economy to make it easier for the United States to annex its northern neighbour.
The extraordinary warning about Mr Trump’s threat to Canadian sovereignty came as the US president delivered on his vow to impose 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian goods.
Canada immediately retaliated, triggering a trade war between previously close allies and threatening future commerce across a border that regularly sees billions of dollars in daily trade.
Mr Trump has said the tariffs are necessary to force Canadian action against what he describes as the flow of undocumented migrants and the drug fentanyl across the border.
Mr Trudeau has maintained that Canada is not a significant contributor to either problem in the United States, and on Tuesday called Mr Trump’s fentanyl justification “completely false.” Asked about Mr Trump’s motivations for imposing tariffs, Mr Trudeau said the US president, who has spoken often of making Canada the 51st American state, “wants to see a collapse of the Canadian economy because that would make it easier to annex us.”
“The United States launched a trade war against Canada,” Mr Trudeau said. “Canadians are reasonable. We are polite. We will not back down from a fight.”
Today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada: their closest partner and ally — their closest friend.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) March 4, 2025
Canadians are reasonable, but we will not back down from a fight.
Not when our country is at stake.
Mr Trudeau also addressed Mr Trump directly, saying that while he thinks Mr Trump is a “smart guy,” the tariffs are a “very dumb thing to do.”
Mr Trudeau, who has been in power since 2015, is due to be replaced as the leader of the governing Liberal Party on Sunday.
He has said he will step down as prime minister as soon as the party’s new leader is chosen.
Mr Trudeau has publicly tried to address Mr Trump’s concerns on migrants and fentanyl, in hopes of avoiding the tariffs that came into force on Tuesday.
Canada has pushed through a costly new border security plan and named a fentanyl czar to lead the effort against the killer in opioid.
Mr Trudeau said his focus remained on getting US tariffs lifted “as quickly as possible,” adding that he remained ready to talk directly to Mr Trump.
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CANADA, MEXICO, AND CHINA RETALIATE AGAINST TRUMP TARIFFS
It comes as mounting trade wars between the United States and its largest economic partners deepened Tuesday as huge US tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China kicked in, sparking swift retaliation from Beijing and Ottawa.
Canada responded with its own retaliatory 25 percent tariffs, while Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said there was no justification for the US move and vowed to hit back with duties of its own.
Beijing’s foreign ministry vowed to fight a US trade war to the “bitter end.”
Markets fell in Asia and Europe in response to what analysts said were the steepest tariffs on imports since the 1940s.
Mr Trump had announced - and then paused - blanket 25 percent tariffs on imports from major trading partners Canada and Mexico in February, accusing them of failing to stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
He pushed ahead with them Tuesday, citing a lack of progress on both fronts. The duties will hit over US$918 billion in US imports from both countries, and are set to hamper supply chains for key sectors like automobiles and construction materials.
Mr Trump also inked an order Monday to increase a previously imposed 10 percent tariff on China to 20 percent - piling atop existing levies on various Chinese goods.
Beijing condemned the “unilateral imposition of tariffs by the US” and said it would impose 10 and 15 percent levies on a range of agricultural imports from the United States.
Experts have warned the higher import costs could push up prices for consumers, complicating efforts to bring down inflation.
That includes at grocery stores - Mexico supplied 63 percent of US vegetable imports and nearly half of US fruit and nut imports in 2023, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
Housing costs could also be hit. More than 70 percent of imports of two key materials homebuilders need - softwood lumber and gypsum - come from Canada and Mexico, said 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.
Work was drying up because many companies in the Mexican border city of Tijuana export Chinese goods, said driver Angel Cervantes.
“And since the tariffs are also against China, work is going down for the (transport) companies,” he added.
Ottawa’s retaliatory 25 percent tariffs on US$30 billion of goods went into effect just after midnight Tuesday.
“Canada will not let this unjustified decision go unanswered,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, adding that they would be extended to duties on more than US$150 billion of Canadian goods within weeks.
China’s tariffs will come into effect next week and will impact tens of billions of dollars in imports, from US soybeans to chickens.
China also suspended all imports of US lumber and halted soybean shipments from three US exporters.
European Union trade spokesman Olof Gill warned the tariffs on Canada and Mexico threatened transatlantic “economic stability” and risked disrupting global trade, urging Washington to reverse course.
Analysts say Mr Trump’s tariffs over drugs like fentanyl are a means to tackle socio-economic problems - while providing legal justifications to move quickly - and Washington is also seeking leverage and to rebalance trade ties.
But using emergency economic powers to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China is a novel move.
The Tax Foundation estimates that before accounting for foreign retaliation, tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China this time would each cut US economic output by 0.1 percent.
“We could easily reach the highest effective tariff rate since 1936 by the beginning of 2026,” KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk warned ahead of the tariffs going into effect.
Both consumers and manufacturers stand to bear the costs of additional tariffs, which could diminish demand and trigger layoffs as businesses try to keep costs under control.
FOOTAGE SPARKS TRUMP HEALTH FEARS
Speculation is swirling about Donald Trump’s health after video from a golf outing on the weekend appeared to show him limping, prompting a terse statement from the US President’s spokesman.
Video shared by Aleman’s Brothers LLC, a grounds-keeping company that services Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, showed the 78-year-old US President seemingly dragging his feet as he teed up to take his swing.
Social media users took to X to express concern, focusing on Mr Trump’s legs, with some noting that he appeared “far from stable” and “wobbly”.
One posted: ‘Is something wrong with Trump’s legs?’
Another person theorised whether or not the US President had a “neuromuscular degenerative issue”.
Mr Trump’s spokesman, Steven Cheung, fired back, calling the claims “fabricated lies”.
“Deranged and morally bankrupt liberals — including corrupt media — have now resorted to complete falsehoods and fabricated lies because they have no shame,” he said.
“Instead, they spend every waking hour of their pathetic lives suffering from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted their brain.”
The footage came days after a video emerged of Mr Trump joining his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, and tech billionaire Elon Musk on stage at Mar-a-Lago, with some observers noting that the US President was appearing to limp.
President @realDonaldTrump and @elonmusk stop by an event at Mar-a-Lago 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/dj5UuyhJsW
— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) March 2, 2025
WALTZ CONSIDERING 2028 PRESIDENCY RUN
It came as failed 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz said he would “certainly consider” running for president in 2028.
The move comes despite his overwhelming defeat alongside former vice president Kamala Harris last November.
“Look, I never had an ambition to be president or vice president. I was honoured to be asked,” the Minnesota Governor told The New Yorker Radio Hour.
“If I feel I can serve, I will. And if nationally, people are like, ‘Dude we tried you, and look how that worked out,’ I’m good with that.” “If I think I could offer something … I would certainly consider that.”
Mr Walz told host David Remnick “if the circumstances are right” and he feels he “has the right skill set for the moment … I’ll do it.”
FIRST LADY TAKES A STAND AGAINST REVENGE PORN
First Lady Melania Trump has used her first solo appearance of the new term to lobby against deepfake and revenge pornography.
Hosting a roundtable in support of the Take it Down Act, Mrs Trump addressed lawmakers and victims of crime.
“I am here with you today with a common goal - to protect our youth from online harm,” she said.
“The widespread presence of abusive behaviour in the digital domain affects the daily lives of our children, families and communities.”
The Take it Down Act bill was passed by the senate this year and will now need to be passed by the House before becoming law.
The bill proposes penalties of up to three years in prison for perpetrators who share or threaten to share non-consensual intimate images of children and adults.
It includes deepfake images created with artificial intelligence.
“Addressing this issue is essential for fostering a safe and supportive environment for our young people,” the first lady said.
“I hope today’s roundtable builds awareness of the harm caused by nonconsensual intimate imagery and eventually the approval of the Take it Down Act in Congress.”
Young victims of revenge porn and deepfake attacks addressed the roundtable, describing how the crimes impacted their lives and left them feeling helpless.
As part of the bill, social media companies will also be forced to rip down the material within 48 hours of being notified of its existence.
– with AFP
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Originally published as Trump wants Canada’s economy to ‘collapse’ to make annexation ‘easier’: Trudeau