TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday that U.S. trade demands confirmed Canada’s fears that U.S. President Donald Trump was seeking to dismantle its auto industry, as Trump threatened new 50% tariffs on Canadian vehicles, auto parts and steel, and as Ontario Premier Doug Ford warned Canada could cut off electricity and critical minerals to the United States.Carney said Canada remained willing to negotiate, but only if Washington approached the talks as a partnership between sovereign countries. He said “an attitude at the negotiation table that Canada is a subsidiary of the United States” is “not something we’re going to accept.”Ford, speaking in an interview with The Associated Press, said Trump has underestimated Canadians’ willingness to endure economic pain rather than give in to U.S. pressure.“He underestimates Canada. We’re all in,” Ford said. “Up here, we’re at a fever pitch, everyone’s in for an economic war. They know they’re going to have to sacrifice.”
Trump said Monday that the new 50% tariffs on Canadian automobiles, auto parts and steel would begin next year.“Canada has been ripping off the United States of America for years,” Trump wrote on social media, criticizing what he called Canada’s “ridiculously high tariffs” on American farmers.
