New Delhi: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has again swiftly responded to US President-elect Donald Trump’s threat of merging Canada with the United States. In an interview with US channel CNN, Justin Trudeau said merger is not gonna happen as Canadian are proud of being Canadians.
Trudeau’s response came following Donald Trump’s threat of merging Canada as US’s 51st state. The Canadian PM, who has now stepped down, said Trump’s utterances are mere distraction tactics.
‘There is a depth of pride’
“One of the ways we define ourselves is that we are not American. There is such a depth of pride. Well, I think what is happening in this is President Trump, who is a very skillful negotiator, is getting people to be somewhat distracted by that conversation,” said Trudeau in the interview.
Trudeau also said that if Donald Trump moved ahead with his suggested 25 per cent tariff plans on Canadian goods, then they would become a lot more expensive.
Threat to US and Canadian economy: Trudeau
“To take away the conversation by the 25 per cent tariffs on oil and gas and electricity and steel and aluminum and concrete and everything the American consumers buy from Canada are suddenly going to get a lot more expensive if he goes ahead on these tariffs,” Trudeau added.
Trump threatened tariffs on Canada if Ottawa does not enhance border security. To this, Trudeau had warned Trump of the bad impact on the economies of the two countries.
The Canadian PM also recalled the tariff war in 2018 when Ottawa imposed counter-tariffs on various American goods like Heinz ketchup and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Trudeau said such tariffs harms the end consumers as it dries up the prices.
Trump’s threat to different nations
Recently, Trump has made a series of controversial statements where he said he will seize Panama Canal and purchase Greenland. There were sharp reaction from Panama and Danish Presidents on Trump’s reaction.
Earlier this week, Trudeau had reacted to Trump Canada merger saying, “There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States.”
