DETROIT — Former U.S. president Barack Obama took aim at U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods Saturday during an impassioned speech at a Democrat campaign rally in Detroit, Michigan, ahead of next month’s U.S. midterm elections.
During a speech supporting Democratic candidates Abdul El-Sayed and Jocelyn Benson, Obama mocked the current president’s tariff war with its northern neighbour while jokingly referring to Canada as a “well-known evil empire.”
“That historical adversary of ours, Canada,” he said sarcastically. “It’s your neighbour. It’s a few minutes’ drive over the bridge.”
The former U.S. president says Trump has upset Canadians through his abuse of the country and talks of making it the 51 state.
“These are the people who gave us Martin Short and maple syrup,” he said. “They are the nicest people.”
The trade war with Canada has been a key issue in the midterm elections, especially in tight races.
Obama said the impacts of the tariffs are particularly evident in Michigan, a battleground state where auto industry supply chains are deeply integrated with Canada and automakers have long said tariffs increase production costs.
“1/8Trump 3/8 was warned, this will drive prices up, this does not lower prices,” he said. “That’s exactly what happened.”
For more than a year, Trump has imposed various tariffs on Canadian goods, including steel and aluminum, copper, lumber and alcohol.
In August, the president imposed sweeping 50 per cent tariffs on billions of dollars in Canadian goods, including motor vehicles, after trade talks between the two countries fell apart.
In response, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney imposed dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs in September.
Trump continued to escalate the trade war later that month when he banned imports of certain Canadian goods, including motorcycles, some liquor and whey products.
With the midterms less than two weeks away, Trump announced Friday he will lift some of those 50 per cent tariffs at the end of the month, while adding tariffs to dozens of new products, including Canadian garbage and sewage.
The latest move will include tariff exemptions for several products imported from Canada for Maine’s agricultural sector, as current Maine Senator Susan Collins, a Republican, fights for re-election in a tight race.
With files from The Associated Press
