WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� on Saturday threatened to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if America’s northern neighbor went ahead with its , intensifying a feud with , a rising voice in the West’s pushback to Trump’s .
Trump said in a social media post that if Carney 鈥渢hinks he is going to make Canada a 鈥楧rop Off Port鈥� for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken.鈥�
It was unclear when Trump might impose the threatened tariff. He said in the post it would happen 鈥渋mmediately” if Canada made 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 over the past year, Canada to lower tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in return for lower import taxes on Canadian farm products. At the time, Trump said was what Carney 鈥渟hould be doing and it鈥檚 a good thing for him to sign a trade deal.鈥�
Dominic LeBlanc, Canada鈥檚 minister responsible for trade with the United States, said Canada and China had resolved 鈥渟everal important trade issues鈥� but there was no pursuit of a free-trade agreement.
Trump鈥檚 threat came amid an escalating war of words with Carney as the Republican president鈥檚 strained . Trump had commented while in Davos, Switzerland, this week that 鈥淐anada lives because of the United States.鈥� Carney shot back that his nation can be an example that the world does not have to bend toward autocratic tendencies. 鈥淐anada doesn鈥檛 live because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadian,鈥� he said.
Trump later revoked his invitation to Carney to join the president’s 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 a . 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 鈥淕overnor Carney.鈥� Trump had used the same nickname for Carney’s predecessor, , and his first use of it toward Carney was the latest mark of their soured relationship.
Daniel B茅land, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said 鈥渢here was a sense Trump showed more respect for Carney than for Trudeau. Now, after Carney鈥檚 visit to China and, even more, his widely celebrated Davos speech, which clearly outshined and upset Trump, the gloves are off.鈥�
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, 鈥淢iddle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu鈥� and he warned about coercion by great powers 鈥� without mentioning Trump鈥檚 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 鈥渞upture鈥� 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 鈥淐hina will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life.鈥� In a later post, the president said: 鈥淭he last thing the World needs is to have China take over Canada. It鈥檚 NOT going to happen, or even come close to happening!鈥�
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 Trump鈥檚 tariffs by the . 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 to 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 Trump鈥檚 pursued pressure tactics, Canada鈥檚 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.
Carney has said that Canada’s relationship with the U.S. 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 would work to ensure that the future of that relationship 鈥渂enefits workers and businesses on both sides of the border.鈥�
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.
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Gillies reported from Toronto.
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