Mark Carney, the favorite to be the next Canadian Prime Minister, said his country “was going to resist a tyrant” after US President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs in Canada.
Speaking exclusively at the BBC Newsnight, Carney, 59, said that Canada “corresponded to Dollar for American prices”.
In addition to leaving a 25% rate on Canadian imports on Saturday, the White House announced 25% tariffs on Mexico and 10% on China.
Carney, who announced his race for the Liberal chief of the chief of Canada in January, is the former governor of the Banque du Canada and the Bank of England.
He is currently one of the five candidates in the running to succeed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – and has so far obtained the largest support base among liberal deputies.
The management race will end on March 9.
The winner will replace Trudeau – who announced his intention to resign in January after nine years of office – both as Prime Minister and the party leader.
Canada is then required to hold a federal election to elect a new government on October 20 or before, the Liberal Party currently following its conservative rivals in the ballot boxes.
In response to the pricing announcement, Carney told Newsnight that “President Trump probably thinks that Canada will give in”.
“But we are going to resist a tyrant, we are not going to go back,” he said.
“We are united and we will fight back.”
The former governor of the Bank of England said that prices “will damage the reputation of the United States in the world.”
“They will achieve growth. They will increase inflation. They will increase interest rates,” he said.
He added that it was the “second time” in less than a decade that the United States “disturbed a trade agreement with its nearest trading partner”.
In 2020, towards the end of Donald Trump’s first mandate, the American-Mexico-Canada (UCMCA) agreement entered into force-actually an update of Alena, the agreement between the three countries which were in place Since the 1990s.
Economists have suggested that newly imposed prices may have an immediate devastating impact on Canada’s economy – while driving at higher prices for Americans.
Prices are a central element of Trump’s economic vision. He considers them as a means of developing the American economy, protecting jobs and increasing tax revenue.
Outgoing Prime Minister Trudeau said Canada’s response would be “energetic” and “immediate” to new prices.
Trump said on Friday that Canadian oil would be affected by 10%lower rates, which would take effect later on February 18.
The president also said that he planned to impose prices on the European Union in the future, saying that the block had not treated the United States well.
