Trump threatens Canada with a 100% tariff over its trade deal with China

Trump said in a social media post that if Carney “thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘delivery port’ for China to ship goods and products to the United States, he is sorely mistaken.”

It was unclear when Trump might impose the threatened tariff. He said in the post that it would happen “immediately” if Canada reached a deal with China, which Carney did a week earlier, drawing initial praise from the president.

The White House did not offer any additional details.

While Trump has waged a trade war for the past year, Canada moved forward with its own deal to reduce tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in exchange for lower taxes on imports of Canadian agricultural products. At the time, Trump said that deal was what Carney “should be doing and it’s good for him to sign a trade deal.”

Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian minister responsible for trade with the United States, said Canada and China had resolved “several important trade issues” but that a free trade agreement was not being pursued.

Trump’s threat came amid an escalating war of words with Carney as the Republican president’s push to acquire Greenland tested the NATO alliance. Trump had commented this week in Davos, Switzerland, that “Canada lives thanks to the United States.” Carney responded that his nation can be an example that the world does not have to lean toward autocratic tendencies. “Canada does not live because of the United States. Canada prospers because we are Canadians,” he said.

Trump subsequently revoked his invitation to Carney to join the president’s “Peace Board” he is forming to try to resolve global conflicts.

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Trump’s push to acquire Greenland came after he repeatedly goaded Canada over its sovereignty and suggested it also be absorbed by the United States as the 51st state. This week he posted an altered image on social media 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 calling Canada’s leader “Governor Carney.” Trump had used the same nickname for Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, and its first use toward Carney was the latest sign of their sour relationship.

Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said “there was a sense that Trump showed more respect for Carney than for Trudeau. Now, after Carney’s visit to China and, even more so, his widely celebrated Davos speech, which clearly upstaged and upset Trump, the gloves are off.”

Carney has become a leader of a movement for countries to find ways to unite and counter the United States under Trump. Speaking in Davos before Trump, Carney said: “Middle powers must get their act together because if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu” and warned of coercion by great powers, without mentioning Trump by name. The prime minister received widespread praise and attention for his comments, upstaging Trump at the World Economic Forum.

The prime minister even spoke of a “rift” between the United States under Trump and its Western allies that would never be repaired.

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Trump, in his Social Truth post on Saturday, also said that “China will eat Canada alive, devour it whole, including destroying its businesses, social fabric and overall way of life.” In a later post, the president said, “The last thing the world needs is China taking over Canada. It’s NOT going to happen, it won’t even come close to happening!”

Carney has not yet reached a deal with Trump to reduce some of the tariffs he has imposed on key sectors of the Canadian economy. But Canada has been protected from the biggest impact of Trump’s tariffs through the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement. That trade agreement is subject to review this year.

In the fall, the Canadian province of Ontario issued an anti-tariff announcement in the United States that led 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 didn’t comply.

As for China, Canada had initially followed the United States by imposing a 100% tariff on Beijing’s electric vehicles 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 Trump pursued pressure tactics, Canada’s foreign policy has been less aligned with the United States, creating an opening for a better relationship with China. Carney made the tariff announcement earlier this month during a visit to Beijing.

Carney has said that Canada’s relationship with the United States is complex and deep and that Canada and China do not see eye to eye on issues such as human rights.

LeBlanc, the trade minister, said in a statement that Canada would work to ensure that the future of that relationship “benefits workers and businesses on both sides of the border.”

Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly C$3.6 billion (US$2.7 billion) in goods and services cross the border each day. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports come from Canada, as do 85% of U.S. electricity imports.

Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the United States and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon craves and invests in for national security.

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Gillies reported from Toronto.