New Delhi:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has once again denied US President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion that Canada could become the 51st US state. Prime Minister Trudeau criticized President Trump’s comments as a distraction tactic.
“That’s not going to happen,” Trudeau said in an interview with CNN. “Canadians are incredibly proud to be Canadian. One of the easiest ways we define ourselves is… , that we are not American.” “What’s going on here is that President Trump, who is a very skilled negotiator, is distracting people somewhat from that conversation.”
President Trump recently suggested imposing a 25% tariff on all Canadian imports unless Ottawa tightens border security, a move that Trudeau warned would impact both countries’ economies. Prime Minister Trudeau said U.S. consumers would bear the brunt of the price increases if these tariffs were implemented.
“Oil, gas, electricity, steel, aluminum, wood, concrete, everything that American consumers buy from Canada will suddenly become much more expensive if we move forward with tariffs,” Trudeau said. .
Trudeau also noted that during the 2018 trade dispute, Canada imposed counter-tariffs on U.S. products such as Heinz ketchup, Trump, bourbon and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
“But we don’t want to do that because it would drive up prices for Canadians and hurt our closest trading partners,” Trudeau said.
President Trump’s remarks are the latest in a series of unusual territorial initiatives, including lofty claims to buy Greenland during his first term. The proposal was fiercely rejected by Danish and Greenlandic officials.
Prime Minister Trudeau rejected Trump’s proposal earlier this week, saying, “There’s no snowballing chance that Canada will become part of the United States.”
