WASHINGTON (AP) โย President Donald Trumpย on Saturday threatened to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if America’s northern neighbor went ahead with itsย China trade deal, intensifying a feud withย Prime Minister Mark Carney, a rising voice in the West’s pushback to Trumpย new world order.
Trump said in a social media post that if Carney โthinks he is going to make Canada a โDrop Off Portโ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken.โ
While Trump has waged aย trade warย over the past year, Canada this monthย negotiated a dealย to lower tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in return for lower import taxes on Canadian farm products.
Trump initially had saidย that agreementย was what Carney โshould be doing and itโs a good thing for him to sign a trade deal.โ
Carneyโs office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trumpโs threat came amid an escalating war of words with Carney as the Republican presidentโsย push to acquire Greenlandย strainedย the NATO alliance. Trump had commented while in Davos, Switzerland, this week that โCanada lives because of the United States.โ Carney shot back that his nation can be an example that the world does not have to bend toward autocratic tendencies. โCanada doesnโt live because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadian,โ he said.
Trump later revoked his invitation to Carney to join the president’sย โBoard of Peaceโย that he is forming to try to resolve global conflicts.
Trump’s push to acquire Greenland has come after he has repeatedly needled Canada over its sovereignty and suggested it also be absorbed the United States as aย 51st state. He posted an altered 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 Saturday, Trump continued his provocations by calling Canada’s leader โGovernor Carney.โ Trump had used the same nickname for Carney’s predecessor,ย Justin Trudeau, and his first use of it toward Carney was the latest mark of their soured relationship.
Daniel Bรฉland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said โthere was a sense Trump showed more respect for Carney than for Trudeau. Now, after Carneyโs visit to China and, even more, his widely celebrated Davos speech, which clearly outshined and upset Trump, the gloves are off.โ
Carney has emerged as a leader of a movement for countries to find ways to link up and counter the U.S. under Trump. Speaking in Davos before Trump, Carney said, โMiddle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menuโ and he warned about coercion by great powers โ without mentioning Trumpโs name. The prime minister received widespread praise and attention for his remarks, upstaging Trump at the World Economic Forum.
The prime minister even spoke of a โruptureโ between the U.S. under Trump and its Western allies that would never be repaired.
Trump, in his Truth Social post Saturday, also said that โChina will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life.โ In a later post, the president said: โThe last thing the World needs is to have China take over Canada. Itโs NOT going to happen, or even come close to happening!โ
Carney has not yet reached a deal with Trump to reduce some of the tariffs that he has imposed on key sectors of the Canadian economy. But Canada has been protected by the heaviest impact of Trumpโs tariffs by theย Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement. That trade agreement is up for a review this year.
In the fall, the Canadian province of Ontario aired an anti-tariff ad in the U.S. that prompted Trump toย end trade talksย with Canada. The television ad used the words of former President Ronald Reagan to criticize U.S. tariffs. Trump pledged to increase tariffs on imports of Canadian goods by an extra 10%. He did not follow through.
As for China, Canada had initially mirrored the United States by putting a 100% tariff on electric vehicles from Beijing and a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum. China had responded by imposing 100% import taxes on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood.
But as Trumpโs pursued pressure tactics, Canadaโs foreign policy has been less aligned with the U.S., creating an opening for an improved relationship with China. Carney made the tariff announcement earlier this month during a visit to Beijing.
โThe China trade deal is quite limited as is the U.S. deal with China on (semiconductor) chips. The China deal may grow, however. I expect Chinese interest in funding a pipeline to northern British Columbia,โ said Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto.
Carney has said that Canada’s relationship with the U.S. is complex and deeper and that Canada and China disagree on issues such as human rights.
Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US $2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, as are 85% of U.S. electricity imports.
Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.
