Justin Trudeau Breaks Down Before Media Amid Trump's Tariff Threats, To Step Down As Canada PM This Sunday

Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday (local time) broke down in front of the media while highlighting the turning points of his nine-year tenure in office and extensive tariffs announced by the Trump administration. Trudeau, who stepped down in January amid dropping popularity ratings, will leave the PM office after his Liberal Party chooses a new leader on March 9, Sunday.

Trudeau, in one of his final press conferences, said, "I have made sure that every single day in this office I put Canadians first, that I have people's backs, and that's why I am here to tell you all, that we have got you. Even in the very last days of this government, we will not let Canadians down."

Trudeau further warned the Canadians of tough times in the future in the face of Trump's far-reaching tariff threats and intention to annex Canada into the US. Notably, Trump has repeatedly pitched the idea of making Canada the 51st US state and referred to Trudeau as ‘Governor’

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"A win-lose between us would actually be worse for them than a win-win. That's true in international trade, in relations between nation states. It perhaps is not true in real estate deals, (where) a win-lose is probably better for someone who is experienced in business deals than a win-win," Trudeau said.

Trump Temporarily Paused Tariffs

Meanwhile, Trump paused his far-reaching import taxes on Canadian products entering the US market for one month after market turmoil. Ottawa has also suspended the second wave of retaliatory tariffs on US products entering Canada. Justin Trudeau had planned an additional $125 billion in tariffs that would have been implemented in the next 21 days on various American products, including electric vehicles, fruits and vegetables, dairy, beef, pork, electronics, steel and trucks.

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Announcing a reciprocal tariff from April 2 on countries that impose comprehensive duties on American products, Trump called India the “tariff king” and a “big abuser”. Trump has implemented an additional 10 per cent levy on goods imported from China. Anticipating serious consequences for India and Thailand, a study by Morgan Stanley suggests that India and Thailand could see their tariffs increase by 4 to 6 percentage points.