President Donald Trump took to Twitter Saturday to criticize Canada’s prime minister after Justin Trudeau reiterated that the country would soon enact tariffs on a variety on U.S. products in retaliation for America’s import taxes on steel and aluminum.
At a press conference Saturday after the end of the G-7 summit in Quebec, Trudeau said Canada, a longtime U.S. ally and trading partner, would not be “pushed around” by America.
That brought a sharp rebuke from Trump, who has just tweeted a few hours earlier how much he had enjoyed the meeting.
“P.M. Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our G-7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that “U.S. tariffs were kind of insulting” and he “will not be pushed around,” Trump tweeted. “Very dishonest and weak. Our tariffs are in response to his of 270 percent on dairy!”
The U.S. instituted a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tax on aluminum in March. Canada, Mexico and the European Union were initially exempt. After the Trump administration announced it would end exemptions, the EU, Canada and Mexico announced similar tariffs on a variety of popular U.S.-made products.