OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada will soon respond to new tariffs on imported vehicles announced by U.S. President Donald Trump and could impose retaliatory measures against the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Wednesday.

Carney said Trump's move was "a direct attack" and told reporters he would be convening a high-level cabinet meeting on Thursday to decide on a response.

"We will defend our workers, we will defend our companies, we will defend our country, and we will defend it together," he said in Kitchener, Ontario.

The tariffs look set to damage the highly integrated North American auto industry.

Canada has already announced a package of retaliatory tariffs totaling C$155 billion that it said would be imposed in stages depending on what Trump did.

Asked when Canada would react, Carney said: "It will happen soon ... we have options. We can introduce retaliatory tariffs." He did not give details.

Carney, who has already mused about non-tariff measures such as levying export duties on commodity exports to the United States, said it would be appropriate to speak to Trump soon. The two men have not spoken since Carney was sworn in as prime minister earlier this month.

Carney said he had spoken to Ontario premier Doug Ford, who earlier told reporters that "we're going to make sure that we inflict as much pain as possible to the American people without inflicting pain on the Canadian population".

Ford told reporters he would soon be speaking to the other nine provinces on a coordinated response.

"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 of pain and fight like we have never fought before. I prefer the latter - I believe in fighting," he said.

Ontario, Canada's most populous province, is the home of the domestic auto industry.