Canadian PM calls for 'buy Canadian' in response to Trump's new tariff threat

OTTAWA — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Saturday called for "buy Canadian" and "build Canadian" in response to a new tariff threat from US President Donald Trump.

Carney published a pre-taped video on his personal social media account about buying and building Canadian to combat economic threats from other countries, Xinhua news agency reported.

"With our economy under threat from abroad. Canadians have made a choice: to focus on what we can control," Carney said at the beginning of the video.

Though Carney did not mention the United States directly, the prime minister said: "We can't control what other nations do. We can be our own best customer. We'll buy Canadian. We'll build Canadian."

Trump on Saturday threatened to slap a 100 per cent tariff on Canadian goods coming into the United States.

If Carney "thinks he is going to make Canada a 'Drop Off Port' for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

"China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life," he said.

"If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the USA," he added.

Canada's minister responsible for trade with the United States, Dominic LeBlanc, pushed back against Trump's latest threat.

"There is no pursuit of a free trade deal with China. What was achieved was resolution on several important tariff issues," he wrote on X.