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Reacting strongly to US President Donald Trump’s proposal on making Canada the 51st state of his country, Canada’s Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly has said that she takes his remarks “very seriously”, BBC reported.
“This is not a joke anymore,” Joly told Newsnight. “There’s a reason why Canadians, when they go out on a hockey game, are booing the American national anthem… We’re insulted. We’re mad. We’re angry.”
Her comments came as Trump says if Canada imposes retaliatory tariffs on the US, America would also increase its tariff to a similar amount.
“Please explain to Governor Trudeau, of Canada, that when he puts on a Retaliatory Tariff on the US, our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!”, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social.
Trump’s remark follows Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement on Tuesday that Canada will be implementing 25 percent tariffs against USD 155 billion worth of American products.
“The moment US tariffs came into effect this morning, so did the Canadian response. Canada will be implementing 25% tariffs against $155 billion of American products. Starting with $30 billion worth of goods immediately, and the remaining $125 billion in 21 days’ time”, Trudeau said in a post on X.
Responding to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s suggestion that Trump would “probably” announce a deal to reduce tariffs on Wednesday, Joly told the BBC that “at the end of the day, the only one that really takes a decision is President Trump”.
Calling Canada the closest partner, ally and friend of the US, Trudeau had said that Canada will not back down from the fight when the “country is at stake”.
Today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada: their closest partner and ally — their closest friend.
Canadians are reasonable, but we will not back down from a fight.
Not when our country is at stake.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) March 4, 2025
“Today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada: their closest partner and ally — their closest friend. Canadians are reasonable, but we will not back down from a fight. Not when our country is at stake”, the post noted.
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