President Donald Trump is threatening to impose tariffs of 25% on Canada on the flimsiest of pretexts. Moreover (and you have to pinch yourself that this really is happening), he says he will lift the threats if America can annex Canada.

Former foreign and financial minister Chrystia Freeland, a contender to replace Justin Trudeau as Canadian Prime Minister, told CNN on Sunday morning that Canadians are "hurt" by Donald Trump imposing tariffs on their country and she wishes he would just "It is an act of economic warfare.

The former finance minister said her plan calls for the immediate release of a long list of $200 billion in retaliatory tariffs to deter Trump from making good on his threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports as soon as February.

Chrystia Freeland, former Canadian deputy prime minister, said on Sunday that President Trump’s decision to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods is a “betrayal” and an “act of economic warfare.