Canada PM: Trump Tariffs Direct Attack 03/27 06:17

   

   TORONTO (AP) -- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday that U.S. 
President Donald Trump's auto tariffs are a "direct attack" on his country and 
that the trade war is hurting Americans, noting that American consumer 
confidence is at a multi-year low.

   Trump said earlier Wednesday that he was placing 25% tariffs on auto imports 
and, to underscore his intention, he stated, "This is permanent."

   "This is a very direct attack," Carney responded. "We will defend our 
workers. We will defend our companies. We will defend our country."

   Carney said he needs to see the details of Trump's executive order before 
taking retaliatory measures. He called it unjustified and said he will leave 
the election campaign to go to Ottawa on Thursday to chair his special Cabinet 
committee on U.S. relations.

   Carney earlier announced a CA$2 billion ($1.4 billion) "strategic response 
fund" that will protect Canadian auto jobs affected by Trump's tariffs.

   Autos are Canada's second-largest export. Carney noted the sector employs 
125,000 Canadians directly and almost another 500,000 in related industries.

   "Canada will be there for auto workers," he said.

   Trump previously granted a one-month exemption on his stiff new tariffs on 
imports from Mexico and Canada for U.S. automakers.

   The president has plunged the U.S. into a global trade war -- all while 
on-again, off-again new levies continue to escalate uncertainty.

   The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its U.S consumer confidence index 
fell 7.2 points in March to 92.9, the fourth straight monthly decline and its 
lowest reading since January of 2021.

   "His trade war is hurting American consumers and workers and it will hurt 
more. I see that American consumer confidence is at a multi-year low," Carney 
said earlier while campaigning in Windsor, Ontario ahead of Canada's April 28 
election.

   The tax hike on auto imports starting in April means automakers could face 
higher costs and lower sales.

   Trump previously placed 25% tariffs on Canada's steel and aluminum and is 
threatening sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products -- as well as on all of 
America's trading partners -- on April 2.

   "He wants to break us so America can own us," Carney said. "And it will 
never ever happen because we just don't look out for ourselves, we look out for 
each other."

   Carney, a former two-time central banker in Canada and the U.K., made the 
earlier comments while campaigning against the backdrop of the Ambassador 
Bridge, which is considered the busiest U.S.-Canadian border crossing, carrying 
25% of all trade between the two countries. It plays an especially important 
role in auto manufacturing.

   Carney said the bridge carries $140 billion Canadian dollars ($98 billion) 
in goods every year and CA$400 million ($281 million) per day.

   "Now those numbers and the jobs and the paychecks that depend on that are in 
question," Carney said. "The relationship between Canada and the United States 
has changed. We did not change it."

   In the auto sector, parts can go back and forth across the Canada-U.S. 
border several times before being fully assembled in Ontario or Michigan.

   Ontario Premier Doug Ford, whose province has the bulk of Canada's auto 
industry, said auto plants on both sides the border will shut simultaneously if 
the tariffs go ahead.

   "President is calling it Liberation Day. I call it Termination Day for 
American workers. I know President Trump likes tell people 'Your fired!" I 
didn't think he meant U.S. auto workers when he said it," Ford said.

   Trump has declared a trade war on his northern neighbor and continues to 
call for Canada to become the 51st state, a position that has infuriated 
Canadians.

   Canadians booed Trump repeatedly at a Carney election rally in Kitchener, 
Ontario.

   The new prime minister, sworn in March 14, still hasn't had a phone call 
with Trump. It is unusual for a U.S. president and Canadian prime minister to 
go so long without talking after a new leader takes office.

   "It would be appropriate that the president and I speak given the action 
that he has taken. I'm sure that will happen soon," Carney said.

   Opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said the tariffs will damage 
American auto workers just as they will damage Canadian auto workers.

   "The message to President Trump should be to knock it off," Poilievre said. 
"He's changed his mind before. He's done this twice, puts them on, takes them 
off. We can suspect that may well happen again."