WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that it was “time to teach Canada you can’t do this anymore,” just days after trade talks between the neighboring countries broke down.
“I had a deal, that was a pretty good deal, you know, quite good,” Trump told Glenn Beck in an interview.
“They don’t have anything that we have to have, okay, we can get by. I mean, there are a couple of things that would make it a little inconvenient, but we can get them elsewhere. And it’s time to teach Canada you can’t do this anymore.”
Trump imposed new 50 per cent tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian imports on Saturday after talks between the two countries collapsed.
Canada hit back on Tuesday with retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion worth of US annual imports and rolled out aid for businesses and workers, matching Washington’s latest duties dollar for dollar.
They take effect on September 8.
Trump also announced 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian autos and parts that will take effect on January 1.
Canada has said that the US refused to extend tariff relief to medium- and heavy-duty vehicles as one reason it did not reach an agreement.
The Canadian Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment on Wednesday.
White House adviser Peter Navarro predicted on Wednesday that the deal Canada will ultimately strike with the US will be worse than what was offered last week.
“It just is not going to end well for Canada and I predict that the deal you got, that you turned your nose up, you’re never going to get that deal again,” Navarro said on C-SPAN. “Whatever you get is going to be less than that.”
Navarro added that the US deal offered to Canada “made me uncomfortable” given how advantageous he thought it was for the US.’ northern neighbour.
“There’s no way economically they should have turned it down,” Navarro said.
