“We have to look out for ourselves and we have to look for each other and work together, for each other,” he said.

Even before taking office, Trump had threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian goods — as well as goods from Mexico — over allegations that drugs and undocumented immigrants were entering the United States via their shared border. Earlier this month, he made good on that vow. On Tuesday, he imposed the same 25% tariff on new autos and light trucks, including certain parts, built outside the country.

With Canada being a major auto manufacturer for the United States — producing 1.5 million vehicles for its southern neighbor in 2023 — Carney on Tuesday described the tariffs as an attack.

“This is a direct attack, to be clear, a direct attack on the Unifor workers I stood in front of this morning at the Ambassador Bridge, a bridge that is a symbol and reality up until now of the tight ties between our two countries — ties of kinship, ties of commerce, ties that are in the process of being broken,” he said, explaining that he had learned of the tariffs while in a meeting with Unifor, a Canadian general trade union, while in Windsor, Ont.

He warned that the tariffs will “hurt us” but by standing together, Canada will emerge from the trade war stronger.

“I think what’s happend — and this was part of our discussions over the course of the last several months — Canadian workers, Canadians as a whole across this country, have gotten over the shock of the betrayal and are learning lessons,” he said.

“We will defend our workers, we will defend our companies, we will defend our country and we will defend it together.”

While in Windsor, he told reporters, with Detroit in the background, that Trump’s trade war has put the relationship between the two nations under greater strain than at any time in their shared history.

While in Kitchener he acknowledged that the tariffs would hurt Canadians, in Windsor on Wednesday morning, he said they would also hurt American consumers and workers, pointing to a recent report from The Conference Board showing consumer confidence in the United States was at at 12-year low.

“Those American workers and consumers should be President Trump’s concern,” he said.

During a campaign rally later Wednesday in Kitchener, the Liberal leader described the trade war with Trump and the American leader’s threats to annex Canada as “the most significant crisis of our lifetimes.”

He accused Trump of trying to “break” Canada in order to own it, but Carney said he and all Canadians will not let that happen.

“Elbows up,” he said, reiterating the catchphrase of the moment in Canada, meaning to protect oneself or to fight back against an unwanted attack.

Carney said he spoke with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and they agree to stand firm against the tariffs.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Ford warned that the uncertainty and chaos caused by Trump would hurt the markets.

Ford has threatened to cut off Ontario-produced energy to the United States, and he said Wednesday he is waiting to see what other tariffs Trump is planning to impose, as more were expected on April 2.

“I can assure you one thing — we’re going to make sure we’re going to inflict as much pain as possible to the American people without inflicting pain on the Canadian population,” he said.

Canada has retaliated against the tariffs announced earlier this month with 25% on billions of dollars worth of U.S. goods, and there are expectations it will respond to Wednesday’s tariffs in kind.

“We have two options here: we either roll over as a country and he runs us over 15 times and gets what he wants or we feel a little bit a pain and we fight like we’ve never fought before,” he said. “I prefer the latter — I believe in fighting, and we’ll have a big impact on the American people. All he’s doing is hurting the American people.”