Canadian Ambassador to U.S. says Canadians are ‘perplexed,’ ‘disappointed’ by Trump tariffs

Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman said Canadians were disappointed and perplexed by President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on imports from the country during an interview on Sunday.

“Canadians are perplexed, I think disappointed. We view ourselves as your neighbor, your closest friend, your ally, you know, a country whose citizens have fought and died with you around the world in defense of values that we share, who come to the aid of the Los Angeles fires, most recently, and I think are really perplexed by this move. So I don’t think anybody will need to tell Canadians what to do. I think that they will make their decisions on their own,” she told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. 

Trump signed an executive order authorizing the tariffs on Saturday, which will go into effect Tuesday, consisting of a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on imports from China.

Stephanopoulos asked Hillman if the Canadian citizens felt betrayed.

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“I think they’re confused. I don’t think they understand where this is coming from. I think they know the degree to which we have made every effort to address the president’s concerns, and so they just don’t understand where this is coming from, and probably there’s a little bit of hurt, right?” she responded. 

Hillman said Canada and the U.S. had people who travel back and forth between the two countries and touted a partnership between them.

“We have 400,000 to 500,000 people that move back and forth between our two countries every day. Businesses, tourists, students, workers, and there’s a sense of partnership, of family, of being each other’s best, as I say, best customer, best friend. So I think that this is something that we really don’t, the Canadians don’t understand,” Hillman added.

The Canadian ambassador said that Trump likely does value the U.S. partnership with Canada, and said “I think that we’re going to have to see where this takes us.”

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Trump said Friday that he was not worried about American consumers taking a hit and said the tariffs will ensure that other countries treat the U.S. “fairly.” 

“There may be temporary, short-term disruption, and people will understand that,” Trump told reporters Friday in the Oval Office. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the tariffs were due to illegal fentanyl. 

“The president will be implementing tomorrow a 25% tariff on Mexico, 25% tariffs on Canada, and a 10% tariff on China for the illegal fentanyl they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans,” Leavitt told reporters on Friday. “These are promises made and promises kept.”

Trump’s executive order for the tariffs said, “Gang members, smugglers, human traffickers, and illicit drugs of all kinds have poured across our borders and into our communities.”

“Canada has played a central role in these challenges, including by failing to devote sufficient attention and resources or meaningfully coordinate with United States law enforcement partners to effectively stem the tide of illicit drugs,” the order continued.