Chrystia Freeland, the former deputy prime minister and finance minister of Canada, said this week that restaurants in Canada are pulling American wines off their menus, among other steps to counter US tariffs. Freeland was speaking at a Foreign Policy event being held on the sidelines of the United Nations annual Commission on the Status of Women. FOREIGN POLICY
Chrystia Freeland, the former deputy prime minister and finance minister of Canada, criticized the tariffs imposed by the United States government on Canada over the last few weeks, calling them an act of “self-mutilation.”Speaking at a “Her Power” event organized by Foreign Policy on the sidelines of the 69th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) meeting in New York City, Freeland said on March 12 that there is growing patriotism among Canadians as President Donald Trump escalates his trade war with Canada to draw it into closer economic integration.
“Restaurants are pulling American wine off their menus,” Freeland said. “Canadians have these special apps that tell you how not to buy American stuff in the grocery store.” Trump also says he wants Canada to become the 51st state of the US.
The trade tensions between Ontario and Washington keep intensifying, with both sides issuing tariff threats to protect their economies. The dispute began when Trump threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods, prompting Canada to counter with a proposed surcharge on electricity exports to American homes.
Trump then pushed the standoff further by announcing a potential 50 percent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum. While both countries later rolled back their latest threats, Trump said that the initial 25 percent tariff would take effect on March 12. Canada has already imposed similar tariffs on American goods in response to broader US tariffs that went into effect on March 4.
The tit-for-tat exchange has sent shockwaves through global financial markets, triggering stock price fluctuations and adding to overall economic uncertainty. On Friday, Mark Carney, a former central banker, is expected to be sworn in as the prime minister of Canada. He won the race on Sunday to become leader of the ruling Liberal Party, succeeding Justin Trudeau. Freeland also ran for the post, coming in second after Carney.
A conversation between Andrew Sollinger, chief executive and publisher of Foreign Policy, and Freeland has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Foreign Policy: Trump is undermining the Canadians most sympathetic to him because there’s a surge of anti-Americanism in Canada that is putting conservatives in a spot. Pierre Poilievre, the head of the Conservative Party, is a Trump guy. Is Trump giving the Liberal Party a shot in the arm?
Chrystia Freeland: Pierre Poilievre is giving the Liberal Party a shot in the arm. I was taking questions from Poilievre [in the House of Commons], and he said something denigrating of Canada. I said: “You have an inferiority complex to the United States; you are always talking Canada down. All you are is maple syrup MAGA.” We have seen real threats from your president [Trump] against my country, a barrage of threats of an imposition of economic warfare and explicit statements about how this economic coercion is going to be used to force us to become the 51st state. I can’t even believe I said that, but it is true.
I’m so proud of Canadians. I have never seen the country so patriotic. I bring a little Canadian flag, but this is unusual. We’re not a big flag-waving country, but now everyone is wearing a flag. Restaurants are pulling American wine off their menus. Canadians have these special apps that tell you how not to buy American stuff in the grocery store. It’s not because we don’t like you. We like you individually so much. But we love our country, and we’re going to stand and fight for our country.
FP: Let’s talk about tariffs. There are different reciprocal tariffs right now. We’re in full battle right now. How does Canada win the trade war without cutting growth, raising unemployment and creating rampant inflation?
CF: First of all, inflation is much lower in Canada than in the United States, and economic growth is stronger. Our fiscal position is much stronger than yours. We have a much lower deficit. We have much lower debt. We come into it with a strong balance sheet. So, dear Americans, it’s just self-mutilation. You buy our potash, which is an essential fertilizer. We provide you with 80 percent of your potash. So, you just do not want fertilizer? We sell you oil, gas, electricity. Do you want to freeze in the dark? We sell you uranium. We sell you critical minerals and metals. You buy these things from us because you need them. We are your largest market and not by a little bit. You export more to Canada than to China, Japan, the UK and France combined.
FP: There’s a ceasefire proposal on the table to end the war in Ukraine. Would you give Trump a win if this results in a ceasefire that has President Volodymyr Zelensky’s now-modified demands baked into it?
CF: From my perspective, the only people whose opinion matters here are the Ukrainians. We have to be clear on the facts: Ukraine is a democracy that was illegally invaded by a neighboring dictatorship, entirely unprovoked, and the only thing the Ukrainians are doing is fighting for their democracy and fighting for their sovereignty. There has been talk about whether they are grateful enough. I’ve heard the Ukrainians be grateful everywhere they go. But from my perspective, I am grateful to the Ukrainians. They have not asked anyone to go and stand shoulder to shoulder with them and die. They are fighting for democracy. They’re fighting for the rules-based order. Just because you’re bigger than your neighbor and have more guns than them, you’re not just allowed to invade them. So I would say, thank you to the Ukrainians for fighting for democracy and the rules-based international order, and we should be standing with them.
Damilola Banjo
Damilola Banjo is an award-winning staff reporter for PassBlue who has covered a wide range of topics, from Africa-centered stories to gender equality to UN peacekeeping and US-UN relations. She also oversees video production for PassBlue. She was a Dag Hammarskjold fellow in 2023 and a Pulitzer Center postgraduate fellow in 2021. She was named the 2020 Nigeria Investigative Journalist of the Year by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism and was part of the BBC Africa team that produced the Emmy nominated documentary, “Sex for Grades.” In addition, she worked for WFAE, an NPR affiliate in Charlotte, N.C. Banjo has a master’s of science degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a B.A. in communications and language arts from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.