Trudeau's departure would leave the party without a permanent head at a time when polls show the Liberals will "badly lose" to the official opposition Conservatives in an election that must be held by late October.

In a scathing resignation letter, Freeland accused Trudeau of focusing on political gimmicks to appease voters, including a costly Christmas tax holiday, instead of steadying Canada's finances ahead of Trump's promised tariffs. Trudeau's Liberals are trailing badly in the polls to the opposition Conservatives.

A senior official says Canada is looking at putting retaliatory tariffs on American orange juice, sinks, toilets and some steel products if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump goes ahead with his threat