President Donald Trump said Friday that he doesn’t “want to do anything bad to Canada” but warned “all I have to do is tax cars — it would be devastating.”
As Global News reports, Trump made the comments to reporters Friday afternoon on Air Force One. Trump continued to suggest he has the Canada over a barrel as far as any trade deal is concerned.
Later on Friday evening he told a crowd in North Dakota, “So every time I have a problem with these, you know, many of these countries that we’re talking about, especially the big car countries. I just say, ‘Okay! Look, that’s okay. I’m going to put a 20 per cent tax on your cars.’ ‘We’ll do it! We’ll do it, we’ll agree.’”
Trump continued, “Actually in Canada, a tax on cars would be the ruination of the country.” (RELATED: Trump: ‘We’re Going To Make A Fairer Deal With Canada’)
Trump’s claim that he didn’t want to hurt the Canadian economy came as Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland continued to meet with Trump trade representative Robert Lighthizer. The two failed on Friday to reach an agreement but talks will apparently continue next week. It’s not clear whether NAFTA will be replaced by two bilateral trade deals: one with Mexico and another with Canada.
According to the Toronto Star, an auto tariff would indeed have severe economic consequences for Canada, with some analysts predicting job losses of 160,000 and a reduction in growth of over 25 percent.
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