Usually, it goes from conflict to emotional battle
Carney “wants to destroy the main industry”
ėŽė§ íë Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada. AFP Yonhap News Agency
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he is preparing retaliatory measures against U.S. President Donald Trump’s all-round tariff bomb.
“We have learned that the United States wants to destroy our major industries,” Prime Minister Carney said at a shipbuilding investment event held at the Darby Shipyard in Levi, Quebec, on the 24th (local time). “The negotiation process with the U.S. has revealed that the Trump administration is trying to break down Canada’s main industries of steel, aluminum and automobile with unfair conditions.”
“A trade agreement that is mutually beneficial to both countries is still possible, but this should respect Canada’s sovereignty and independence and use each other’s strengths to create a better future, not destroy the other country for short-term benefits,” he stressed.
Prime Minister Carney emphasized, “We can never accept the attitude of treating Canada as a subsidiary of the United States or that the Canadian industry will face headwinds.”
Earlier, President Trump raised the level of trade pressure by raising tariffs on Canadian finished cars to 50% from January 1 next year and vowing to impose full tariffs on parts as well. Currently, 25% tariffs are applied only to non-U.S. parts in finished vehicles, and parts are tariff-free and cross the border.
The two countries faced an extreme confrontation over the weekend when 50% tariffs took effect on about $20 billion (about 27.6 trillion won) worth of Canadian products, including furniture, plastics, plywood and electrical equipment.
Prime Minister Carney acknowledged that it is practically difficult to make a one-on-one counterattack based on the amount given the huge size of the U.S. economy, but predicted a strategic precision strike. “We have to be smart, we have to hit exactly the most sensitive vulnerable points in the United States,” he said.
The Canadian government will finalize and announce a specific list of retaliatory tariffs for U.S. steel, dairy products, home appliances, agricultural equipment, electronics, pulp and paper by Sept. 8. It also promised full emergency financial support for Canadian manufacturers, which have been directly hit by high U.S. tariffs.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government also announced a large-scale investment plan to strengthen its economy and infrastructure. Prime Minister Carney announced that he plans to invest more than C$11 billion (about 11 trillion won) to build six new icebreakers. This is the largest contract in Quebec’s history.
Meanwhile, the trade conflict between the United States and Canada seems to be gradually escalating into an emotional battle. President Trump criticized Prime Minister Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford on social media, saying, “Someone has to line up and tame these clowns. Otherwise, there will be even more terrible consequences for Canada,” he threatened.