Trump threatens Canada with 100% tariffs over trade deal with China
Mr Trump had initially said the deal between Ottawa and Beijing was ‘a good thing’.
US president Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if America’s northern neighbour goes ahead with its trade deal with China.
Mr Trump said in a social media post that if Canadian prime minister Mark Carney “thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken”.
While Mr Trump has waged a trade war over the past year, Canada this month negotiated a deal to lower tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in return for lower import taxes on Canadian farm products.
Mr Trump initially had said that agreement was what Mr Carney “should be doing and it’s a good thing for him to sign a trade deal”.
Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s minister responsible for trade with the United States, said Canada and China had resolved “several important trade issues” but there was no pursuit of a free-trade agreement.
The US leader’s threat came amid an escalating war of words with Mr Carney as the Republican president’s push to acquire Greenland strained the Nato alliance.
Mr Trump had commented while in Davos, Switzerland, this week that “Canada lives because of the United States”.
The Canadian leader shot back that his nation can be an example that the world does not have to bend toward autocratic tendencies.
Mr Trump later revoked his invitation to Mr Carney to join the president’s “Board of Peace” that he is forming to try to resolve global conflicts.
The US president’s push to acquire Greenland has come after he has repeatedly needled Canada over its sovereignty and suggested it could also be absorbed the United States as a 51st state.
He resumed that this week, posting 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”.
Mr Trump had used the same nickname for Mr Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, and his use of it toward Mr Carney was the latest mark of their soured relationship.
The Canadian prime minister has not yet reached a deal with Mr 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 Mr Trump’s tariffs by the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement. That trade agreement is up for a review this year.
Mr Carney has emerged as a leader of a movement for countries to find ways to link up and counter the US under Mr Trump. Speaking in Davos before Mr Trump, Mr Carney said, “Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
Mr Trump, in his Truth Social post on Saturday, also said that “China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life”.
In the autumn, the Canadian province of Ontario aired an anti-tariff advert in the US that prompted Mr Trump to end trade talks with Canada.
The television ad used the words of former president Ronald Reagan to criticise US tariffs. Mr 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 aluminium. China had responded by imposing 100% import taxes on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood.
But as Mr Trump pursued pressure tactics, Canada’s foreign policy has been less aligned with the US, creating an opening for an improved relationship with China. Mr Carney made the tariff announcement earlier this month during a visit to Beijing.
Mr Carney has said that Canada’s relationship with the US is complex and deeper and that Canada and China disagree on issues such as human rights.
Mr LeBlanc 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 US states. Nearly 3.6 billion Canadian dollars (£1.9 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. About 60% of US crude oil imports are from Canada, as are 85% of US electricity imports.
Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminium and uranium to the US and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.
