Canada’s former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland protested President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs as “utter madness” and called the action an act of American “self-mutilation.”
Trump confirmed his long-anticipated threat on Saturday that imports from Mexico and Canada would be subject to 25 percent tariffs, while goods from China would face a 10 percent tax. Additionally, Canadian energy exports—including oil, natural gas, and electricity—will be taxed at a 10 percent rate.
The new tariffs are set to take effect on Tuesday, prompting swift retaliation from both Mexico and Canada – announcing economic countermeasures of their own – while Trump signaled that tariffs on the European Union could be implemented “pretty soon.”
Freeland, who is running to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and is a sitting member of the Canadian parliament, appeared on Monday’s Morning Joe after calling the move “an act of economic warfare” in a post on X.
Speaking to hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, Freeland took her criticism a step further and warned that the tariffs would result in more expensive goods for US citizens.
This really is utter madness. And, you know, from our perspective, the key thing here is you guys are engaged in this colossal act of self-harm. These tariffs are going to make life more expensive for Americans. You have put a tariff on the gas we sell you. So gas is going to be more expensive. You have put a tariff on the
food that you are buying. That’s a tax on groceries, they’re going to be more expensive. We have now the United Steelworkers, the American Farm Bureau, the Chamber of Commerce, all saying this is going to hurt America. Stock futures are down.You are hurting yourselves. You are taxing regular Americans. And we are going to fight back. And Canada is your biggest market. Canada is a bigger market for US exporters than China, Japan, the UK and France combined.For Americans. like, your business people, right? The customer is always right and your customer is really angry at you. The whole country is behind the retaliation the prime minister has announced so now we are going to tax American exporters who are trying to sell us stuff. That means Americans are going to lose jobs.So this is really… It is self-mutilation. America is hurting itself. We think that it is utterly crazy. And we’re also really, really angry at you.
Watch above via MSNBC.