Trump tells Trudeau he has ‘not done enough’ to avoid tariff hikes

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about steps taken by him to avert the hike on tariff on Canadian goods were “not good enough”.

A hefty duty hike of 25 per cent on goods entering the US from Canada and Mexico went into effect on March 4 as scheduled, and 20 per cent on imports from China.

The hikes on Canada and Mexico were imposed by President Trump as punishment for allowing illegal migrants and fentanyl, an opioid, into America through their borders.

China has been targeted for its failure to stop much of this fentanyl as the country of source for it.

Trump has threatened to follow up these hikes with a system of reciprocal tariffs that would target trading partner countries that have higher duty rates for American goods. India is among the countries he has frequently mentioned among the targets.

“Justin Trudeau, of Canada, called me to ask what could be done about Tariffs,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform.

“I told him that many people have died from Fentanyl that came through the Borders of Canada and Mexico, and nothing has convinced me that it has stopped. He said that it’s gotten better, but I said, ‘That’s not good enough.'”

He went on to add, both taunting the Canadian leader and accusing him for using the tariffs to cling on to power.

“He was unable to tell me when the Canadian Election was taking place, which made me curious, like, what’s going on here? I then realised he is trying to use this issue to stay in power. Good luck Justin!”

Trudeau resigned as Prime Minister in January after losing support in the ruling Liberal Party, which will elect his replacement on March 9; the general elections are scheduled for October.

“For anyone who is interested, I also told Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada that he largely caused the problems we have with them because of his Weak Border Policies, which allowed tremendous amounts of Fentanyl, and Illegal Aliens, to pour into the United States,” Trump wrote in another post, using the designation of “Governor” to taunt Trudeau, and Canada as the 51st state of the US.

Trudeau has called Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods “dumb” and ordered retaliatory hikes of 25 per cent on $30 billion worth of unspecified American goods, which would extend to $125 billion in goods in 21 days.

–IANS