“Comparing us to Mexico is an insult,” a senior Canadian official says of Trump’s tariffs. international

Donald Trump threatened this Monday through his social network, Truth, that he would impose a 25% tariff on all products from Mexico and Canada if these countries did not stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking into the United States. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum tried to show Trump that Mexican officials are already working on this, but these are not problems that can be solved with tariffs and a trade war would hurt both countries. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the President-elect of the United States to show his willingness to work together. But the person who went off script with the lofty statements was Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province. More than the threat of tariffs, he seemed concerned with appearing to be on the same level as his neighbor to the south. “Comparing us to Mexico is the most insulting thing I’ve ever heard,” he said.

In an appearance before the media outside his office broadcast by his government’s press office, he started down that path from the beginning: “What I found inappropriate about the comments is comparing us to Mexico. And I can tell you that Canada is not Mexico,” he began. “I found it insulting. It’s like a family member has stabbed you in the heart. I’ve spent a lot of time in the United States and have yet to talk to an American who has a problem with Canadians. The Conservative leader added, “We see how drugs flow from Mexico through California and British Columbia to Alberta and Ontario, and what we have to do is take that threat seriously.”

Ford ended his initial intervention by repeating the same message: “The United States has no two close allies with a more open border than Canada. And I want to emphasize that comparing us to Mexico is the most insulting thing I have heard from one of our closest friends and allies, the United States. He declared, “We want to work together, we will work together and we will solve this problem.”

Ford referred to the call Trudeau had with Trump on Monday. “We talk about deep and effective relations between our countries that flow from one side to the other. We talked about some challenges that we can work on together. It was a good call,” the Canadian prime minister said of that conversation. “This is a relationship that we know needs work and that’s what we will do,” Trudeau said.

collapse of the canadian dollar

Monday’s threat of sweeping tariffs on Canadian imports caused the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar to depreciate, trading at their lowest against the US dollar since mid-2020. These tariffs would be a serious blow to the treaty that governs trade relations between the three North American countries and which was negotiated in 2019 and 2020 under Donald Trump’s first term. This meant rewriting the 1994 free trade agreement.

The Prime Minister of Ontario has been in favor of Canada maintaining separate bilateral trade agreements with the United States and Mexico rather than an agreement with the three parties. Ford has often complained that Mexico serves to channel Chinese imports.

Trudeau has announced an emergency meeting with provincial leaders this Wednesday to discuss the tariffs that Trump has threatened to impose on January 20, the day he takes office.

According to the Associated Press agency, Canadian Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne declared, “We should not confuse the Mexican border with the Canadian border.” The U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October, and 23,721 arrests at the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024. “This is the equivalent of a significant weekend at the border with Mexico,” the Canadian immigration minister said. Mark Miller, who said Canada is considering a range of border measures, including additional resources.

Quebec Premier François Legault acknowledged the problem at the border with Mexico is much worse, but he justified Trump’s concerns, citing a recent surge of illegal immigrants entering the United States from Canada. Legault said, “A 25% tariff would mean the loss of thousands of jobs.” “We cannot start a war. We have to do everything possible so that there are no tariffs,” he said in statements also seen by the AP.

Canada is one of the countries in the world that is most dependent on foreign trade. More than three-quarters of its exports are destined for the United States. Approximately US$2.7 billion worth of goods and services cross the border every day. About 60% of US oil imports come from Canada, and 85% of electricity imports come from Canada. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum, and uranium to the United States.

When Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term, Canada retaliated, sometimes thinking more about their political implications than their economic ones. Now, like Mexicans, Canadians are particularly concerned about tariffs on cars. The North American automobile industry is highly integrated and so is the market.