Donald Trump’s threat to annex Canada using “economic force” is a “negotiating strategy” in the context of discussions on the imposition of customs tariffs on Canadian goods, believe Quebec manufacturers and exporters (MEQ ).
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• Also read: Trump threatens to use “economic force” against Canada
“We are in a period of negotiation and possible imposition of customs tariffs,” recalled the vice-president of MEQ in an interview with the Journal Tuesday, after emphasizing that she did not intend to “comment directly on what Donald Trump said.”
“I don’t necessarily want to fuel negotiation tactics in the public square either,” she explained, recalling that the resignation of Justin Trudeau made the political situation in Canada “a little unstable”, thus causing a “perfect storm”.
And while the storm is in full swing, Donald Trump is recovering. When a journalist asked him directly if he intended to use military force to annex Canada, the American president replied that no, but that he instead intended to use “economic force”.
He has been posting messages on social media for weeks discussing the possibility of Canada becoming the 51st American state.
“There are clearly negotiation strategies currently,” reiterated Ms. White, calling for “to weigh up all of what is being said.”
“What is important for us is that the government is effective in negotiating and making diplomatic efforts with the American government,” she said.
“Afterwards, we will see what will really happen on January 20: how high the tariffs will be, on what products they will be applied if there are any, then depending on what will be announced by the American administration, that we are able to react quickly,” she continued.
“We need to focus on our goals and not get distracted,” she concluded.
Last month, MEQ released a survey showing that 90% of manufacturing companies surveyed would suffer significant or very significant impacts if 25% tariffs were imposed on Canadian goods at the U.S. border.
Worse still, no less than 46.5% of Quebec manufacturing companies indicated that they could relocate their production to the United States if this tariff threat becomes a reality.
