Canada PM: Canada not to retaliate after U.S. bans mask exports

01:23

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday that Canada will not take retaliatory measures against the United States after President Donald Trump urged 3M to stop exporting N95 respirator masks to Canada.

"We are not looking at retaliatory measures or measures that are punitive. We know that it is in both of our interests to continue to work collaboratively and cooperatively," Trudeau said in his daily address in Ottawa.

Trudeau said he would be speaking with the U.S. president in the coming days to protect the flow of goods across the border and he is confident they will be able to find a solution, CTV news reported on Saturday.

"We're working with the American administration to ensure that they understand the goods and services that are essential to both our countries flow in both directions across the border, and it is not in any of our interests to actually limit that flow," he told reporters outside of his home in Ottawa.

Trudeau said a chartered air shipment of masks from China would land in Canada in the next 48 hours. The country is also expanding channels elsewhere to get personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline medical workers.

Earlier, he warned the U.S. not to restrict medical supplies. "It would be a mistake to create blockages or reduce the amount of trade of essential goods and services including medical goods across our border," said Trudeau.

President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA) to block 3M's exporting of N95 respirators on Friday, saying the face mask maker will pay a price. 3M later responded that ceasing respirator supplies to healthcare workers in Canada and Latin America would only have the opposite effect and would have significant humanitarian implications.

"If that were to occur, the net number of respirators being made available to the United States would actually decrease. That is the opposite of what we and the Administration, on behalf of the American people, both seek," said 3M in a statement.

As of 2:00 p.m. Saturday Canada Eastern Time, there were 13,860 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 228 deaths in Canada, according to CTV.