Canada announced Thursday that it will apply 25% tariffs to the import of cars from the US that do not fit the TMEC standards in retaliation by the same extent that the US government began to apply.
The Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, revealed the measure this Thursday during a press conference in which he accused the administration of Donald Trump of “fracturing” the world economy and ending the “Global Trade System anchoring in the US” with the tariffs announced on Wednesday.
Carney said that in retaliation for the entry into force on Thursday of tariffs on the automobile sector, Canada will impose 25% tariffs on vehicles from the US and that do not fit the TMEC standards.
The measure will not affect those from Mexico or the commeals from the US.
“Our tariffs, unlike the US, will not affect the car components because we know the benefits of our integrated production system. And they will not affect the content of vehicles in Mexico, which is respecting the commercial agreement,” he explained.
The Canadian government estimates that the measure will report about 8,000 million dollars that will be “directly” to workers affected by tariffs.
Carney explained that the “old relationship of continued deepening of integration with the United States is over” and that, although “it is a tragedy, it is also the new reality.”
The Canadian Prime Minister also stressed that Trump’s actions are “a clear violation of the commercial agreements” of the TMEC Free Trade Agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico that the US president himself signed during his first term (2017-2021).
Specifically, Carney pointed out tariffs to the automobile sector, the most integrated between the three American countries since 60 years ago, EU and Canada signed an agreement to eliminate their taxes.
“That era has ended unless the United States and Canada agree a new global approach,” he explained.
The words of the Canadian leader contrast with those pronounced this Thursday by the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, who positively valued Trump’s decision not to impose new tariffs on his TMEC partners and said that the tripartite trade agreement “survived.”
According to Carney, the actions announced yesterday by Trump “will fracture the global economy and adverse global economic growth adverse. The global economy is fundamentally different from what it was yesterday.”
“The global economic system anchored in the United States, in which Canada has depended since the end of World War II, a system that although it was not perfect has helped the prosperity of our country for decades, it has ended,” he said with a serious gesture.
Given the new reality, Canada “will fight each of these tariffs” before the courts and international organizations, said Carney in addition to “carefully calibrated tariffs.”
Also, the country will increase its relations with other “reliable” countries.
Carney revealed that this Thursday spoke with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, with whom he tried “the importance of reliable partners working together to protect transatlantic security and the deepening of economic ties.”
“The prime minister shared his plan to fight unjustified commercial actions of the United States against Canada, protect Canadian workers and strengthening the economy of Canada,” said Prime Minister’s office in a statement.
The Canadian Prime Minister explained that the conversation with Scholz is part of the context of those he has held in recent weeks with other European leaders but added that, at the moment, Canada was not coordinating its actions with the European Union (EU).
With EFE information
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