Mark Carney, the frontrunner to be the next Canadian Prime Minister, has said his country will ‘retaliate’ after United States President Donald Trump announced tariffs of 25 percent on Canada.

 

Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Carney said Canada is going to ‘stand up to a bully’.

 

Recall that the White House had on Friday announced tariffs of 25 percent on Canada and Mexico and 10 percent on China, commencing on Saturday.

 

In response to the tariff announcement, Carney said, “President Trump probably thinks Canada will cave in.

 

“But we are going to stand up to a bully, we are not going to back down.

 

“We’re united and we will retaliate.”

 

He added that the tariffs are “going to damage the US’s reputation around the world”.

 

“They are going to hit growth. They’re going to move up inflation. They are going to raise interest rates.”

 

According to him, it’s the second time in less than a decade that the US has “in effect, ripped up a trade agreement with its closest trading partner”.

 

In 2020, towards the end of Trump’s first term, the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, UCMCA, came into effect.

 

The agreement between the three countries had been in place since the 1990s.