Amid Trump’s heavy tariffs on Canada, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly is taking action. She intends to meet with Rubio on Thursday morning to exert “maximum pressure” in defence of Canada’s sovereignty and way of life
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Canada has a message for its fellow bloc members at the G7: ‘Nobody is safe’ from US tariffs. The message resonated with delegates present at the G7 Foreign Ministers Meet hosted by Canada.
Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly told her counterparts, “If the US can do this to us, their closest friend, then nobody is safe.”
The G7 meeting will cover issues from Ukraine to Venezuela, but Joly said that she will raise Trump tariffs with the European and British members of the bloc.
On the other hand, US State Secretary Mark Rubio has told reporters that the upcoming meeting is “not to discuss how we’re going take over Canada.”
Amid Trump’s heavy tariffs on Canada, Joly is taking action. She intends to meet with Rubio on Thursday morning to exert “maximum pressure” in defence of Canada’s sovereignty and way of life.
“We have done nothing to justify Trump’s attacks on our country, on our economy and our identity. Canada is your best friend, best neighbour and best ally,” she said.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff measures on Canada went into effect, rattling its steel and aluminium market. Canada, the biggest foreign supplier of steel and aluminium to the United States, announced 25 per cent retaliatory tariffs on those metals along with computers, sports equipment and other products worth $20 billion in total.
‘Annexing our country’
Responding to Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods, Joly said that they are an “excuse” for taking over the country by economic coercion.
“The only constant in this unjustifiable trade war seems to be President Trump’s talks of annexing our country through economic coercion. He called our border a fictional line and repeated his disrespectful 51st state rhetoric. Well, Canadians have made it very clear that we will not back down, and we will not give in to this coercion,” the foreign minister said.
“What he wants to see is a total collapse of the Canadian economy,” outgoing prime minister Justin Trudeau said last week shortly before leaving office.
More cooperation with Europe
Regarding Canada’s sovereignty, Joly stated that during the G7 meetings, she aims to explore new avenues for collaboration with Europe on military drills, weapons procurement, and other defence initiatives. Meanwhile, Rubio told reporters his priority is addressing issues like Ukraine and strengthening North American defence through NORAD.