President Donald Trump said he thinks he’ll apply new tariffs on Canada and Mexico on 1 February.
He told reporters in the Oval Office he was thinking of a 25% tariffs on imports from the United States’ North American neighbors.
It amounts to a roughly week-long reprieve from the tariffs he promised to impose on his first day in office.
Asked about tariffs on China, Trump pointed out the duties he imposed as president the first time around were still in place.
Top Canadian ministers have responded, threatening to retaliate if Trump implement the tariffs on them.
Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said they “will continue to work on preventing tariffs” but said they are also “working on retaliation”.
Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Trump can be unpredictable.
“None of this should be surprising,” he said. “Our country is absolutely ready to respond to any one of these scenarios”.
