Canada to 'stand firm' in trade battle with Trump, ambassador tells ABC

Adds background, detail, additional quote in paragraphs 2-3 and 6-9

Feb 2 (Reuters) - Canada hopes hefty tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump will not take effect on Tuesday but the Canadian public expects the government to stand firm in a trade dispute with Washington, the Canadian ambassador told ABC News on Sunday.

Canada on Saturday quickly announced tariffs on hundreds of billions in U.S. exports, including beer, wine, fruits and fruit juices, retaliating the same day Trump slapped duties of 10% to 25% on Canadian, Mexican and Chinese imports.

Trump has blamed Ottawa and Mexico City for failing to stem the flow of illicit drugs and unlawful migration into the United States, charges they reject.

"I think the Canadian people are going to expect that our government stands firm and stands up for itself," Ambassador Kirsten Hillman said in an interview on the broadcast network.

"We're not at all interested in escalating, but I think that there will be a very strong demand on our government to make sure that we stand up for the deal that we have struck with the United States."

Trump has vowed to keep the duties in place until the end of what he describes as a national emergency over fentanyl, a deadly opioid, and illegal immigration.

Hillman also said officials from both countries were continuing to meet in the hopes of stopping tariffs from taking effect.

She added that she hoped U.S. consumers understood Canada was reluctantly imposing painful countermeasures.

"Our message is this is not something that Canada wants to do, this is not a path that we are interested in going down," she said.

(Reporting by Douglas Gillison; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

((douglas.gillison@thomsonreuters.com;))