Canada 'leading the charge' against Trump's tariffs - Foreign Minister Joly - video Dailymotion

euronews (in English)

Canada is prepared to retaliate and lead the charge against the United States in an emerging trade war and wants Europe and the rest of the world on board, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly tells Euronews in an exclusive interview.

Transcript

00:00My guest on The Europe Conversation this week is Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie

00:12Jolie.

00:13She says Europe and Canada must retaliate against Trump's tariffs and Canada will lead

00:19the way.

00:20Well, Melanie Jolie, Foreign Minister of Canada, thank you very much for joining us on The

00:26Europe Conversation.

00:28Thank you, Shona.

00:29It's a pleasure to be here with you.

00:30And we're here at the NATO Foreign Ministers Summit and I want to ask you first of all,

00:33because it's also Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State's first NATO Summit.

00:38What was your engagement like with him today?

00:40Well, I've had many conversations in the past with the Secretary of State, with Marco Rubio.

00:47Today was much more informal because we haven't had the chance to sit down together alone,

00:56but we've been targeted and now we've, I've said that many times to many of my colleagues,

01:01we were the cannery in the coal mine and now they've just experienced it.

01:06So we are under three executive orders coming from the White House, one on our entire economy

01:12of 25% tariffs, which we were able to partly pause, but for 40% of all our goods being

01:20sent to the U.S., there's still 25% tariffs.

01:24We also have 25% on our steel and aluminum going to the U.S. and we also have 25% tariffs

01:31against our auto sector and we think that there will be other sectors.

01:36So based on that, we've led the charge to, because we didn't launch this trade war, but,

01:43and we know there are no winners in a trade war, but we came up with $60 billion worth

01:49of counter tariffs on American goods in Canada and also the Prime Minister, Prime Minister

01:57Carney just announced that we will also retaliate 25% tariffs against auto and auto parts that

02:04are not covered by the trade deal we have with the U.S.

02:09So basically American cars and American parts coming to Canada but are not, that are not

02:16complying.

02:17What's the reaction from the White House to that, because Donald Trump said on so-called

02:21Liberation Day that any country that tries to retaliate, that he will increase further

02:25the tariffs.

02:28We're defending ourselves.

02:29We never started this trade war and it is clear to us, knowing so well the American

02:34people, that the American people don't agree with the actions coming out of the White House.

02:41The only way for President Trump to back off on his trade war is for American people themselves

02:50to say it's enough.

02:52And they are the ones that can create the political pressure within their own system

02:57to make sure that that's the case.

02:59And that's exactly why we launched an advertising campaign in 12 Republican states, red states,

03:05which clearly states what tariffs are, which it is, you know, tariffs are clearly a tax

03:13on hardworking Americans.

03:15Tariffs are also a tax at the gas pump.

03:18Tariffs are also a tax on their grocery bill.

03:23So we've made it clear to the American public and we're seeing that there is a lot of frustration

03:29within American society towards what's happening now.

03:33Now, I think we have to retaliate.

03:36We need to defend ourselves.

03:37And so not only are we leading the charge, we're the country at this point that has imposed

03:43counter tariffs the most against U.S. goods.

03:48We're working with the EU.

03:49I had just a conversation with the EU trade commissioner, Sapcovich.

03:55We're working also with Asian partners and we'll continue to put maximum pressure.

03:59If the EU, Canada, the strongest allies, I suppose, of the United States, but also

04:03trading partners all come together and apply tariffs, then the U.S. will have no choice

04:09but to reverse its path.

04:11Well, at one point, American people will see that inflation is rising and people are losing

04:16their jobs and it will hit their wallet and they'll be mad.

04:21And I understand them.

04:23And at the same time, they'll know that the reason for that is because the president has

04:28decided to launch a trade war against many countries, including particularly Canada,

04:33in our case, and, you know, certain other allies, including, for example, the EU.

04:40And I think that American people are smart people, are reasonable people, are people

04:44that hate taxes, as, you know, pretty much all citizens on earth hate taxes.

04:50And so I'm confident that our approach will work.

04:57The Senate is also getting much more involved into this discussion.

05:04So we're following closely also what the Senate is doing in Congress in the U.S.

05:09But there's no country on earth that understands the most the U.S. than Canada.

05:15And so we can share that knowledge with our friends and allies around the world, including

05:20in Europe.

05:21And meanwhile, we know we're too dependent on their economy.

05:25And we're the most European, non-European country on earth.

05:29And our goal is to also become closer to the Europeans.

05:33Part of the relationship with the U.S. and Canada, the ambition of Donald Trump is a

05:38little bit different than just tariffs that he's saying that he'd like to subsume or take

05:44or have Canada as the 51st state.

05:47I think when President Trump speaks, we listen and we take him to his word.

05:52I think that's really important.

05:55He's the most powerful person on earth, and therefore he has many tools in his toolbox.

06:01At the same time, this impact of the threat of sovereignty against Canada has rallied

06:08people in Canada around our flag.

06:11People are clearly saying that will never happen.

06:14We will never be the United States.

06:17We can be your best friends, best neighbor, best allies, but forget it, we'll never be

06:24your 51st state.

06:25When you think about the bellicose language about Canada and also Greenland, which is

06:29the semi-autonomous part of Denmark, what do you feel about his ambitions, though, as

06:34a president of the United States that is obviously much more muscular?

06:37Well, I think that, you know, we're at NATO here.

06:42One of the key articles at the core of the NATO agreement is to respect the sovereignty

06:48of all countries.

06:49It is also part of the UN Charter, as we all know.

06:53So we expect that the sovereignty of Canada and the sovereignty of Denmark is respected,

07:01period.

07:02And now, if we need to increase Arctic security amongst NATO, if we need to do more in the

07:11Arctic to counter the Chinese and Russian cooperation on the military front, no problem,

07:18let's do that.

07:19I know that the Trump administration is concerned about the Arctic, and I share their concerns.

07:25And I know we can work on making sure that we address these concerns, but it is not to

07:30the detriment of our sovereignty or the sovereignty of our other allies.

07:34And did Marco Rubio accept that?

07:37Well, you know, with me, when I speak with the Secretary of State, I don't give him an

07:42inch of possibility to challenge our sovereignty, period.

07:49It is not up to discussion.

07:50This is not something that we need to talk about.

07:54I'm Canada, you're the US, we're two sovereign nations, and we have a diplomatic conversation.

07:59That's it.

08:00I want to ask you about the Coalition of the Willing when it comes to Ukraine.

08:03Obviously, you know, certain countries, the UK and France have said that they're willing

08:07to put troops in Ukraine, but there needs to be a backstop, a support from the United

08:11States.

08:12Do you think that's forthcoming?

08:13Well, I can't talk for the US.

08:16It's up to them to answer your questions.

08:18But what I can tell you is Canada is willing to participate in that coalition.

08:23We have been...

08:24So you would put troops on the ground in Ukraine?

08:25Well, of course, we're in an election right now.

08:28We need to make sure that if that's the case, that we get the support from Canadians beforehand.

08:35But we've been doing a lot of training for Ukrainian troops.

08:41Before the war was launched, Canada had already trained 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

08:47And we have an expertise in training, and we're training Ukrainians in country, outside

08:54of country as well.

08:56And we've been participating in all these very high-level meetings in London and also

09:03in Paris, because we believe, like all Europeans believe, that if we don't support Ukraine,

09:12we are next to a very dangerous Russia, which is the case for Europeans, which is the case

09:18for us in the Arctic.

09:21And Putin, President Putin, has no red lines.

09:25And if we're not able to get to a good deal in Ukraine, well, we will show not only President

09:32Putin that he can continue and therefore attack eventually NATO and therefore ourselves, but

09:40at the same time, being an Indo-Pacific country, we know very well that China is following

09:46very, very closely and could use this opportunity of lack of unity to ultimately go ahead in Taiwan.

09:54Just a final question.

09:55We saw the failure of the ceasefire in Gaza, and we've seen hostages still there, controlled

10:00by Hamas, and some of the most savage scenes of children losing their lives from Israeli bombs.

10:07What is Canada calling for Israel and America to do?

10:10Well, I think in the end, what we're seeing right now is just a lack of humanity.

10:15And we need to make sure that Israel and Hamas, or Qatar, are going back through the

10:23negotiation table.

10:25We always knew that the second phase of – or as the second phase of the ceasefire was coming,

10:34it would be much more difficult.

10:36But we need to make sure that that's the case, that there is ultimately hostages that

10:43are sent back in an honourable way also.

10:49And we need to make sure that the violence stops and that civilians are protected.

10:55We know that there won't – and Canada really profoundly believes that there will be no

11:00peace and security in the Middle East if there's not a two-state solution.

11:05Does Canada support the International Criminal Court?

11:07Absolutely.

11:08Yeah, because we saw Hungary leaving there today.

11:10Well, Canada founded, along with some other members, the International Criminal Court.

11:15We always thought that when we looked at the international system, what was lacking was

11:20the accountability of countries towards international law.

11:27And that's why we believe in it.

11:28Is it disappointing that one of your allies, Hungary, has decided to exit?

11:32Well, I think that it is indeed a problem when we don't see the strength of having

11:41accountability in a world where we know that it is ultimately a world that is more dangerous.

11:48OK, Oumare Lijoli, Foreign Affairs Minister of Canada, thank you very much for joining

11:52us on the Europe Conversation.

11:53Thank you, Fiona.

11:54Thank you so much.

Canada 'leading the charge' against Trump's tariffs - Foreign Minister Joly

Category

Transcript

Recommended