Trudeau says no question incoming U.S. President Trump is serious on tariff threat

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he believes president-elect Donald Trump's recent tariff threats against Canada and Mexico should be taken seriously.

Trump threatened on social media Monday night to slap a 25 per cent tariff on imports from the U.S.'s closest neighbours, unless the two countries stop illegal border crossings and prevent illicit drugs such as fentanyl from entering the U.S.

"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. There's no question about it," Trudeau said when speaking with reporters in Queens County, P.E.I. on Friday (Nov. 29)

READ: What a Trump 2.0 presidency could mean for Canada’s agri-food sector

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

Trudeau said his government started assembling its outreach plan for the next U.S. administration at the start of the year, when the government began its "Team Canada" effort by pulling together premiers, business and labour leaders to network with officials and politicians across the U.S. 

Trudeau activated a similar response during Trump's first term in the White House, dispatching Canadians of all political stripes to remind American officials that the two nations' economies are joined at the hip and that trade conflicts would cause blowback for American businesses and consumers as well.