Trump claimed that his new trade measure is “permanent”, will continue to spur growth in tax revenues and bring back manufacturing jobs as tariffs force automakers to reorient supply chains from Canada and Mexico which the US president has termed “ridiculous.”
“The beauty of the 25 (per cent) is it’s one number. And that number is going to be used to reduce debt greatly in the United States. “Basically I view it as reducing taxes and also reducing debt, and within a fairly short period of time I think we’re going to have a balance sheet which will be outstanding,” Trump said.
How did countries react?
Canada: New Prime Minister Mark Carney criticised the US's trade action and said, “This is a very direct attack. We will defend our workers. We will defend our companies. We will defend our country.”
Ottawa shipped nearly C$50 billion ($35 billion) worth of vehicles into the US market last year, making autos one of its most important exports.