Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday faced pointed questions from Canadian journalists over the seriousness of President Trump’s calls for Canada to become the 51st state and the trade war with Ottawa that has plunged relations to a historic low.
Rubio said Trump’s tariffs and pitch to annex Canada was not on the agenda of the Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting in Charlevoix, Quebec, but was pressed on the president’s antagonism toward America’s northern neighbor.
“The Canadian government has made their position clear. The president has made his argument clear as to why he thinks Canada would be better off joining as a state for economic purposes,” Rubio said.
“There is a disagreement between the two. That was not a topic of conversation, because that’s not what this summit was about.”
Rubio said Trump’s stance on Canada joining the U.S. came following a dinner conversation with former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who warned of the economic costs on Canada by Trump’s then-threats of tariffs.
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“At that point, the president said Canada should become a U.S. state. POTUS has made an argument about why Canada would be better off economically being a state, and I think that stands for itself,” Rubio said, referring to the president.
Trump’s remarks, seen widely in Canada as disparaging of the country’s sovereignty, triggered a rally around the flag mentality and increased approval ratings for Trudeau, who officially stepped down from the premiership on Friday.
Canada introduced reciprocal tariffs on U.S. aluminum and steel after Trump imposed blanket 25 percent tariffs on all aluminum and steel imports to the U.S.
Canada also responded to U.S. tariffs imposed in March by instituting 25 percent reciprocal tariffs on $30 billion of U.S. imports.
American liquor is also being taken off the shelves in Canada.
Rubio said Trump wants to “reset the baseline” with the tariffs on Canada and that he discussed tariffs with Canada’s Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly.
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“This is not meant as a hostile move. This is about balancing and fairness and trade,” Rubio said. “Once the baseline is set, then you can have negotiations with individual countries about trade. This is meant to be friendly and of our national interest.”
But Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s minister of finance and intergovernmental affairs, called the U.S. tariffs “unwarranted and unjustified.”
“With these tariffs, the U.S. administration is needlessly disrupting an incredibly successful trading partnership,” he said in a statement.
“It is a completely unwarranted and unjustified move that will raise costs for Americans and Canadians alike. While we actively work to remove these tariffs, our government will use every tool at its disposal to defend Canadian jobs and support our businesses and workers during these challenging times.”
