Washington: US President Donald Trump says consumers may suffer “pain” from his sweeping tariffs on goods from America’s three biggest trading partners but claims it would be worth it, while indicating he’s prepared to escalate the trade war and further target Canada.
The developments came as Elon Musk, the government efficiency chief, launched an extraordinary attack on the United States’ main foreign aid agency, USAID, which Musk called a “criminal organisation” that “must die”. He later said Trump agreed it should be shut down.
Donald Trump addressing reporters at the White House last week. Credit: AP
Trump said he would discuss the tariffs with Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexico’s leaders on Monday morning, US time. Talks with Mexico had been “very good”, he said, but he adopted a darker tone on Canada, accusing the US friend and ally of being “very abusive of the United States for many years”.
“If they want to play the game, I don’t mind – we can play the game all they want,” Trump said at the airport after returning to Washington from Florida, hinting at possible tit-for-tit tariff hikes.
The 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10 per cent on goods from China, are due to begin on
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