Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to Donald's looming 25% tariffs on Canada tomorrow by saying he's ready for "a purposeful, forceful but reasonable, immediate response." Liberal leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland went a step further, saying Ottawa should target Tesla vehicles and U.S. alcohol as part of its tariff retaliation package to send a message that an attack on Canadian trade would not be cost-free for Trump's allies.
And Leon Musk has it coming as he's attempting a hostile takeover of the federal government.
Inside EVs reports:
"We need to be very targeted, very surgical, very precise," Freeland told the news outlet. "We need to look through and say who is supporting Trump and how can we make them pay a price for a tariff attack on Canada."
Tesla's EVs sold in Canada are made in the U.S. as well as China. Canadian tariffs would then raise their prices in that country, leading EV buyers to turn to other automakers instead.
Freeland repeated her call for the federal government to publish its retaliatory tariff list as soon as possible — and for it to be made larger than Canada's actual list of tariff targets to drive the point home.
"We need to publish it today because there's still time," she said. "This is an existential challenge, and that will be true whether tariffs come on Saturday or whether the threat of tariffs is still hanging over our heads like a sword of Damocles and April 1 is the date."
While Canada has not yet made public its list of targets for retaliatory tariffs, federal officials have selectively leaked certain items on the shortlist, such as orange juice from Florida.
Former finance minister Freeland — who has prior experience with the first Trump administration and who was until last month tasked with spearheading Canada's response to Trump 2.0 — has called for the release of a list of $200 billion in retaliatory tariffs to deter Trump.
In her run for the Liberal leadership, Freeland has sought to define herself as the best person to counter Trump by detailing how she would respond to the tariff threat. She has pitched a "Buy Canadian" procurement policy and has promised to rally provincial premiers and other nations threatened by Trump tariffs.
Donald and his shadow President, Elon Musk, are targeting our allies. It almost feels like it's intentional for some strange reason. How long will it take before he's impeached for a third time? He's only been in office for 12 days, and all he's done is unleash chaos while blaming others. Donald is like an arsonist who starts a fire, runs for safety, then comes out and blames everyone who got burned.
