Trump's tariff threat should be taken seriously, Trudeau says

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned on Friday that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump's threats on tariffs should be taken seriously.

"One of the things that is really important to understand is that Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out," Trudeau was quoted as saying in Prince Edward Island. "There's no question about it."

"Our responsibility is to point out that, in this way, he would be actually not just be harming Canadians, who work so well with the United States, he'd actually be raising prices for American citizens as well and hurting American industry and businesses," said Trudeau.

According to the report, the prime minister said that Canada can take the same approach to working with Trump as it did during his first term as president.

Trudeau on Wednesday night held a virtual meeting with all 13 premiers to discuss Trump's tariff threat. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland called on the premiers to make use of all of their contacts, channels and abilities to relay important information and messages to Americans and people of influence.

They agreed to continue working closely together to advocate for Canada's interests and the deep economic ties that drive prosperity on both sides of the border, across all sectors of the economy.

Trump vowed on Monday to impose a 25-percent tariff on all products from Canada and Mexico as soon as he takes office, saying that he will keep them in place until both countries crack down on drugs and immigrants entering the United States illegally from their territories.

For the first nine months of this year, Canada exported more than $300 billion in goods to the United States, according to Statistics Canada.

(With input from Xinhua)