In his latest social media outburst, US President Donald Trump escalated an intensifying feud with Canada's Mark Carney.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if its northern neighbour goes ahead with its trade deal with China.
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 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.
Trump initially had said that agreement was what 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.
Trump’s threat came amid an escalating war of words with Carney as the Republican president’s push to acquire Greenland strained the NATO alliance. Trump had commented while in Davos, Switzerland, this week that “Canada lives because of the United States.”
Carney shot back that his nation can be an example that the world does not have to bend toward autocratic tendencies. “Canada doesn’t live because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadian,” he said.
Trump later revoked his invitation to Carney to join his “Board of Peace”, which the US President has said he is forming to try to resolve global conflicts.
Trump's push to acquire Greenland came after he has repeatedly questioned Canada's sovereignty and suggested it also be absorbed the United States as a 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 “Governor Carney”. Trump had used the same nickname for Carney's predecessor, Justin Trudeau, and his first use of it toward Carney was the latest mark of their soured relationship.
Carney has emerged as a leader of a movement for countries to find ways to link up and counter the US under Trump. Speaking in Davos before Trump, Carney said, “middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu” and he warned about coercion by great powers - without mentioning Trump’s name.
'Rupture' between US and the West
The prime minister even spoke of a “rupture” between the US under Trump and its Western allies that would never be repaired.
Trump, in his Truth Social post 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 a later post, the president said: “The last thing the world needs is to have China take over Canada. It’s not going to happen, or even come close to happening.”
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’s tariffs by the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement. That trade agreement is up for a review this year.
In it trade policy towards China, Canada had initially mirrored the US 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 Trump’s pursued pressure tactics, Canada’s foreign policy has been less aligned with the US, 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 US is complex and deep and that Canada and China disagree on issues such as human rights.
Canada is the top export destination for 36 US states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (€2.3 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, aluminum and uranium to the US and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.
