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“Of the options that I presented, the president chose one — which was put broad tariffs on all products from all countries,” Ross said in interview on Bloomberg TV. “We have to deal with a global problem on a global basis.”

A list (of retaliatory measures) can get things moving and I do think we’re at a point now where we need to do something. Of course, we risk a situation where we give them a bloody nose and they break our arm John Weekes, Canada’s chief negotiator on the original deal

The threats from the U.S. prompted a sharp response Friday from World Trade Organization director general Roberto Azevedo, who cautioned that “a trade war is in no one’s interests.”

“The WTO is clearly concerned at the announcement of U.S. plans for tariffs on steel and aluminum,” Azevedo said in a brief statement issued by the WTO. “The potential for escalation is real, as we have seen from the initial responses of others.”

Jerry Dias, head of Canadian private-sector union Unifor, said Trump’s latest gambit to push his “America First” strategy had immediately soured the NAFTA negotiations under way in Mexico City and enfuriated the Canadian team.

“It is crystal clear to us that if Canada is not exempted from the U.S. tariffs on Tuesday, then Canada should walk away from the NAFTA table,” Dias told Reuters, likening the Trump administration to a “schoolyard bully.”

“Ultimately Canada’s going to have to start fighting fire with fire,” he said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has said Canada will “take responsive measures to defend its trade interests and workers.” But trade experts are divided on just how much Canada, as a market of 35 million people, can push back against the U.S.

Canada is clearly more dependent on its trade relationship with the U.S. than the other way around, Weekes said. Canada is the top exporter of steel products to the U.S., accounting for 16.1 per cent of all foreign steel entering the country. And more than 75 per cent of all Canadian exports cross the border into the vast U.S. market of 350 million people.