Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney reacted with anger on Wednesday to US President Donald Trump's imposition of import tariffs on cars, branding it a "direct attack" on his country.

"We will defend our workers. We'll defend our companies. We'll defend our country. And we'll defend it together," said Carney.

"This will hurt us, but through this period, by being together, we will emerge stronger."

Trump said earlier Wednesday that he was placing 25 percent tariffs on auto imports and, to underscore his intention, he stated “This is permanent.”

Carney said he needs to see the details of Trump's executive order before taking retaliatory measures.

He called it unjustified and said he would leave the election campaign to go to Ottawa on Thursday to chair his special Cabinet committee on US relations.

Carney earlier announced a CA$2 billion (US$1.4 billion) “strategic response fund” that would protect Canadian auto jobs affected by Trump’s tariffs.

Autos are Canada’s second largest export, and Carney noted it employs 125,000 Canadians directly and almost another 500,000 in related industries.

“Canada will be there for auto workers,” he said. (Agencies)