Ontario Premier Doug Ford who took a lead in Canada’s tariff war with the United States said he does not think April 2 will be known as the Liberation Day for the Americans as Donald Trump‘s tariffs would ultimately hurt American families as the cost of housing, cars will increase.
Ford told CNN that a majority of lumber that the US imports to build homes comes from Canada, so it will increase the price of the house. Additionally, Ford said that the cost of cars will also increase. “We ship as many autos as we buy, but the cost of a pickup truck or an automobile is going to go up,” he said.
“So these tariffs is nothing but a tax on Americans and he, President Trump, calls it ‘Liberation Day,’ I call it ‘Termination Day,’ because a lot of people are going to be terminated from their jobs” as a result of them,” Ford said.
“I’d like to just go back to the original deal. We had a great deal, he said it was the greatest deal ever. I guess it’s not the greatest deal ever now,” Ford said, referring to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, adding that Canada and the US should work together as partners and not adversaries.
Canada’s finance minister François-Philippe Champagne said Canada will have a strong response to Trump’s tariff announcement. “There is no one who can claim to know precisely what will arrive today,” Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne told reporters in Granby, Quebec. “But we are certain that we are ready to defend (Canadian) industry with a strategic response, a strong response, a targeted response.”
“No matter the nature of the negotiations we will have with the United States of America or other countries, we will never allow supply management to be on the table,” the minister said.
Why Trump administration kept tariff for last-minute surprise
The Trump administration has not revealed anything about the tariff surprise that Trump would spring in a few hours. According to insiders, Trump did not take a decision until the last hours and meetings were held even on Wednesday to finalize the tariff plan. Another reason behind the secrecy is not to spook the market.
