Trudeau appears on CNN to make case against tariffs to American audience

For the first time since U.S. president-elect Donald Trump threatened hefty tariffs on Canadian goods, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took his argument against the import taxes directly to the American public.

Trudeau told CNN's Jake Tapper in an interview on Thursday afternoon that a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian products would hurt both countries.

"We have so many resources in Canada — more than our market can support — so we export them to our closest friend who can rely on them. It is a win-win," he said.

In the first interview Trudeau has given since he announced he would be stepping down as prime minister earlier this week, Tapper asked Trudeau about Trump's recent comments that Canada should become the 51st state.

"That's not going to happen. Canadians are incredibly proud of being Canadian. One of the ways we define ourselves most easily is, 'Well, we're not American,'" the prime minister said.

Trudeau said he believes Trump's comments are meant to distract from the expected economic fallout of the tariffs if the president-elect makes good on his threat.

"Everything the American consumers buy from Canada is suddenly going to get a lot more expensive and that's something we need to be focusing on a little bit more," he said.

Ottawa is preparing a list of hundreds of American-made goods — including steel, plastics and orange juice — that Canada is considering hitting with retaliatory tariffs, according to a senior Canadian government source.

Trudeau told Tapper that the government was preparing to hit back if Trump follows through on his tariff threat, as Canada did during his previous administration. 

The prime minister was in Washington Thursday for the funeral of former president Jimmy Carter. Trump was also in attendance but the two didn't speak. Speaking briefly to reporters, Trudeau repeated much of what he said on CNN and didn't take any questions.

Although this is Trudeau's first appearance on American network television since Trump issued his tariff threat, some of Canada's premiers — specifically Ontario's Doug Ford and Alberta's Danielle Smith — have made several appearances in recent weeks to make the case against tariffs.

Just moments before Trudeau's interview, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre held a campaign-style press conference in which he outlined how he would counter Trump's threats.

Among the points he listed in his prepared remarks, Poilievre said he would offer more energy to fuel the American tech industry, lower taxes to spur investment in Canada and make the economy "more independent and less vulnerable to threats from abroad."

"We will stand up and we will state clearly that Canada is a sovereign and independent country — that we will protect our integrity as a nation through strength," he said.