PRESIDENT TRUMP IS DIGGING IN for the long haul on his intercontinental trade war, even as the S&P 500 neared correction territory Thursday.
Speaking at the White House next to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Trump insisted he could not be swayed to back away from the retaliatory tariffs that have roiled the financial markets.
“I’m not going to bend at all,” Trump said.
Ahead of his meeting with Rutte, Trump threatened a 200 percent tariff on wine and Champagne from the European Union (EU), calling the EU “one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the world.”
Trump also railed against Canada on Thursday, as the tariffs brinkmanship reached new heights.
“We don’t need their lumber, we don’t need their energy,” Trump said.
“We don’t need anything they have,” he added.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Quebec for the Group of Seven (G7) summit. He’s been holding meetings with Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, as Trump muses about annexing her country.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is also meeting with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who backed away from levying electricity tariffs on three U.S. states this week.
“We have done nothing to justify Trump’s attacks on our country, on our economy and our identity,” Joly said.
Canada’s incoming prime minister, Mark Carney, said he’s ready to meet with Trump but only if he respects Canada’s sovereignty and is serious about finding a solution to end the trade war.
Trump’s pick for ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, said at a Congressional hearing Thursday that he believes Canada is a sovereign state, though he avoided a question about whether it should be referred to as the “51st state” of the U.S.