Washington– US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to impose 100 per cent tariffs on goods imported from Canada if America’s northern neighbor goes ahead with its trade deal with China, exacerbating a rift with Prime Minister Mark Carney, a rising voice in the West’s response to Trump’s new world order.
Trump said in a social media post that if Carney “thinks he will make Canada a ‘delivery port’ for China to send goods and products to the United States, he is deeply mistaken.”
It was not clear when Trump might impose the threatened tariffs. He said in the post that it would happen “immediately” if Canada struck a deal with China, which Carney did a week ago, drawing initial praise from the president.
The White House did not provide any additional details.
While Trump has waged a trade war over the past year, Canada has moved forward with its own agreement to reduce tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in exchange for lower import taxes on Canadian agricultural products. At the time, Trump said this agreement was what Carney “should do, and it’s a good thing for him to sign a trade deal.”
Dominique LeBlanc, Canada’s minister responsible for trade with the United States, said Canada and China have resolved “many important trade issues” but there is no pursuit of a free trade agreement.
Trump’s threat came amid an escalating war of words with Carney, at a time when the Republican president’s quest to seize Greenland has strained NATO. Trump commented while in Davos, Switzerland, this week that “Canada lives because of the United States.” Carney responded by saying that his country could be an example that the world should not lean toward authoritarian tendencies. “Canada does not survive because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadians,” he said.
Trump later rescinded his invitation to Carney to join the “peace council” the president had formed to try to resolve global conflicts.
Trump’s push to seize Greenland came after he repeatedly badgered Canada over its sovereignty and also proposed incorporating it into the United States as the 51st state. He posted an edited image on social media this week showing a map of the United States that included Canada, Venezuela, Greenland and Cuba as part of its territory.
In his message on Saturday, Trump continued his provocations by describing Canada’s leader as “Governor Carney.” Trump had used the same nickname he gave to Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, and his first use of it towards Carney was the latest sign of tension in their relationship.
“There was a sense that Trump showed more respect for Carney than Trudeau,” said Daniel Belland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal. “And now, after Carney’s visit to China and, even more so, his famous Davos speech, which clearly outdid and upset Trump, the gloves are off.”
Carney has emerged as the leader of a movement aimed at finding ways to connect and confront the United States in the Trump era. Speaking in Davos before Trump, Carney said: “The middle powers have to work together because if you’re not at the table, you’re on the list,” and warned against coercion by the great powers — without naming Trump. The Prime Minister received widespread praise and attention for his remarks, besting Trump at the World Economic Forum.
The Prime Minister even spoke of a “rupture” between the Trump-era United States and its Western allies that will never be repaired.
“China will eat Canada alive, devour it whole, including destroying its businesses, social fabric and overall way of life,” Trump said in his Truth Social post on Saturday. In a subsequent post, the president said: “The last thing the world needs is for China to take over Canada. It’s not going to happen, or even close to happening!”
Carney has not yet reached an agreement with Trump to reduce some of the tariffs he imposed on key sectors of the Canadian economy. But Canada was protected from the harsher impact of Trump’s tariffs under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement. This trade agreement is under review this year.
In the fall, the Canadian province of Ontario aired an anti-tariff ad in the United States, prompting Trump to end trade talks with Canada. The television ad used the words of former President Ronald Reagan to criticize US tariffs. Trump pledged to increase tariffs on imports of Canadian goods by an additional 10%. He did not follow up.
As for China, Canada initially mirrored the United States by imposing a 100% tariff on electric cars from Beijing and a 25% tariff on steel and aluminium. China responded by imposing 100% import taxes on Canadian canola oil and flour and 25% on pork and seafood.
But with Trump’s pressure tactics, Canada’s foreign policy has become less aligned with the United States, creating an opportunity to improve the relationship with China. Carney made the tariff announcement earlier this month during a visit to Beijing.
Carney said Canada’s relationship with the United States is complex and deep and that Canada and China disagree on issues such as human rights.
LeBlanc, the trade minister, said in a statement that Canada will work to ensure the future of that relationship “benefits workers and businesses on both sides of the border.”
Canada is the top export destination for 36 US states. Approximately 3.6 billion Canadian dollars (2.7 billion US dollars) of goods and services cross the border daily. About 60% of US crude oil imports come from Canada, as do 85% of US electricity imports.
Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the United States and has 34 critical minerals and minerals that the Pentagon covets and invests in for national security.
Gillis reported from Toronto.
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