A contender to be Canada's next prime minister on Monday came out swinging against President Donald Trump's trade war with America's northern neighbor.
Chrystia Freeland, the former deputy prime minister and Liberal Party candidate to lead the nation, appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" to denounce the 25-percent tariffs Trump imposed through executive order on Canada and Mexico, in addition to 10-percent tariffs on China and threatened tariffs against the European Union.
"This really is utter madness," Freeland said. "You know, from our perspective, the key thing here is you guys are engaged in this colossal act of self-harm. These tariffs are going to make life more expensive for Americans. You have put a tariff on the gas we sell you, so gas is going to be more expensive. You have put a tariff on the food that you are buying — that's a tax on groceries, they're going to be more expensive.
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"We have now the United Steelworkers, the American Farm Bureau, the Chamber of Commerce, all saying this is going to hurt America. Stock futures are down. You are hurting yourselves, you are taxing regular Americans, and we are going to fight back, and Canada is your biggest market. Canada is a bigger market for U.S. exporters than China, Japan, the UK and France combined. For Americans, like, your business people, right, the customer is always right and your customer is really angry at you."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ordered retaliatory tariffs on American goods, including vehicles, food and beverages, in response to Trump's tariffs, and Freeland pointed out that fans have been booing the U.S. national anthem at sporting events in Toronto, Ottawa and elsewhere.
"The whole country is behind the retaliation the prime minister has announced, so now we are going to tax American exporters who are trying to sell us stuff," Freeland said. "That means Americans are going to lose jobs, so this is really, it is self-mutilation. America is hurting itself. We think that it is utterly crazy, and we're also really, really angry at you."
Watch the video below or at this link.