John Kennedy Sends Direct And Simple Message Canada: Do This And Trump Will Remove The Tariffs

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In Senate floor remarks last night, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) sent a message to Canada to end President Trump's tariffs.

Transcript

00:00Senator from Louisiana. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I want to talk a few minutes

00:08tonight about a couple of topics, only one if I run short of time because I don't want

00:18to delay our vote. The first topic I'd like to talk about, I know it's very sensitive,

00:24is trade and tariffs. They have both been much in the news lately. There are really

00:36only two reasons why a country would impose a tariff. And every country in the world,

00:46to my knowledge, does have tariffs. There are only two reasons for a country to impose

00:51a tariff. First, for national security. I think it's virtually unchallenged that China,

01:08if it could, would destroy the United States of America. Not the people of China, but the

01:18government of China. I regret to say that, and I hope someday we'll live in a world where

01:25that isn't the case, but I think it's undoubtedly and unconditionally the truth. So if China

01:36is determined to, let me try to use a more neutral word, to undermine the United States

01:44of America, I could see where we would want to limit some of our goods, such as, let's

01:53say, semiconductor design equipment. We would limit the sale of some of our precious technology

02:00to China. That's what I mean by national security. But the other reason, and the reason that

02:08most countries use a tariff, is to protect the domestic industry. Let me give you an

02:16example. These are not two countries, but they're two states, and this would be unconstitutional,

02:23but I think it'll serve my purpose. Let's suppose that Louisiana, which has the best

02:31king cakes in the Milky Way, can produce a king cake for $10. And our friends in Alabama,

02:42they can produce a king cake, not nearly as good as Louisiana's, but their best they can

02:47do is to produce it for $12. Well, I would not agree, but I could understand why the

02:55elected officials in Alabama will say, well, Louisiana's king cake's $10, our king cake

03:01is $12, we want to product our king cake bakers here in Alabama, so we're going to impose

03:09a tariff. What would that do? Let's suppose they impose a $4 tariff. So now, the king

03:17cake, better king cake made in Louisiana, sold in Alabama, would cost $14, and that

03:23would force people to buy the $12 Alabama king cake. Now, my personal opinion is that

03:31most Alabamians, who are very smart people, would pay extra for the Louisiana king cake

03:36because it's so much better. But that's how tariffs work. If you have a domestic industry,

03:42like a king cake bakery, and you want to protect it from competition to allow it to grow and

03:51employ the people in that particular country, then you impose a tax, a tariff, on folks

04:00on the outside of your country who want to sell into your country. I want to say this

04:11unequivocally. Canada is one of my favorite countries in the world. And the American people

04:19and the people of Canada are friends. And I would like our economies to be friends.

04:28And I mean that. But lately, we've been having a general disagreement, some would say not

04:37so general, in terms of tariffs and trade and our economy. Canada and the United States

04:43of America do a lot of business with each other. In 2024, the United States sold to

04:52the people of Canada, about $350 billion in goods. It's a lot of goods, $350 billion.

05:02Canada sold Canadian goods to the United States in the amount of $412 billion. So they're

05:13what we call a trade deficit of $63 billion. And then you drill a little deeper, and you

05:23realize that the US economy is 10 times bigger than the Canadian economy. And the population

05:33of the United States of America is eight times bigger than the population of Canada. Canada

05:40has 41 million people. America has 340 million. So you step back for a second, you go, huh.

05:49Now the United States is eight times bigger. And our economy is 10 times larger than Canada's.

05:59But yet Canada is selling more of its goods into the United States than the United States

06:05is selling into Canada. Any fair-minded person would have to conclude, Mr. President, that it's

06:13because of tariffs. It's because the Canadian tariffs on American goods are higher than the

06:22American tariffs on Canadian goods. And that's what the dispute is all about. President Trump,

06:29who believes passionately in the virtue of tariffs, thinks that the tariffs ought to be

06:37equal, that there shouldn't be a trade deficit. Now trade is very complicated. And I don't think

06:48that all trade deficits are bad. I'm also not saying that all trade deficits are good. Trade

06:59in the complex global economy today is very complex. But I see the President's point. I'm

07:07not suggesting that I agree with the President on everything about tariffs. But when you've got

07:14your neighboring country and good friend is eight times smaller than you are, and in terms of

07:23population it's 10 times smaller than you are, and your neighbor is selling $63 billion more in

07:30goods to you than you're selling to them, that seems kind of unfair. And the President, as we

07:38all know, has made that point very vociferously. In response, the Canadian government, the new

07:50Prime Minister Carney, he's pretty much bowed up. When President Trump said, well, the tariffs are

07:58uneven, so I'm going to raise American tariffs, President Carney has bowed up and said, well,

08:08President Trump, you don't believe in free trade. You're not a free trader. If you raise your

08:13tariffs, then I'm going to raise mine even more. And that's how you get into a trade war. And I

08:20don't want a trade war. And I don't think Prime Minister Carney wants a trade war. And I don't

08:26think President Trump wants a trade war. But I think Prime Minister Carney is wrong when he says

08:35that President Trump is not a free trader. President Trump is a free trader. But like most of

08:43us, he also believes in fair trading as well. So here's my respectful, gentle challenge to Prime

08:53Minister Carney tonight. Prime Minister Carney, you have criticized President Trump. And I see

08:59your point of view. You said because he's raising tariffs on Canada, that he doesn't he President

09:05Trump doesn't believe in free trade. You have said that he doesn't. He believes in tariffs. And you

09:14have said you're going you, Mr. Carney, you're going to change your tariffs. I hope Prime Minister

09:21Carney does change his tariffs. But I hope he does so in a way that we have a race to the top and not to

09:30the bottom. Rather than the Prime Minister of Canada raising tariffs on the United States of

09:37America, after the United States of America raises tariffs on Canada, which will cause us friends,

09:45friends to have a trade war, I would respectfully suggest to the Prime Minister of current Carney of

09:52Canada that he should reduce tariffs to zero. He should reduce all Canadian tariffs on United

10:00States goods to zero. And then turn to President Trump and say, I'm asking you to, to, to remove all

10:12tariffs on Canada as well. Now, if Prime Minister Carney believes in free trade, and I take him at

10:19his word that he does. And if President Trump believes in free trade, but fair trade, and I take

10:25him at his word that he does, then let's both go to zero. How much freer can trade be? How much

10:35fairer can trade be? Let's avoid a trade war. Let's let those good Canadian companies compete with good

10:45American companies in selling goods into the United States. And let's let those good American companies

10:51compete compete with those good Canadian companies in terms of selling goods into Canada. And may the

10:59best cheapest product win. That's my respectful challenge to Prime Minister Carney tonight. If you

11:09think President Trump's being unfair, and it's not a free trader, then reduce your tariffs to zero. And

11:17ask President Trump to reduce our tariffs to zero on Canada. And let's go back to being friends again.

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