VANCOUVER, British Columbia — (AP) — Canada’s outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday suggested that President-elect Donald Trump’s remarks about Canada becoming America’s “51st state” has distracted attention from the harm that steep tariffs would inflict on U.S. consumers.
Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian imports.
“The 51st state, that’s not going to happen,” Trudeau said in an interview with MSNBC. “But people are talking about that, as opposed to talking about what impact 25% tariffs (has) on steel and aluminum coming into the United States.”
Trudeau told MSNBC: “No American wants to pay 25% more for electricity or oil and gas coming in from Canada. That’s something I think people need to pay a little more attention to.”
Trump has also said that if Canada merged with the U.S., taxes would decrease and there would be no tariffs.
“I know that as a successful negotiator he likes to keep people off balance,” Trudeau said of …