Trump threatens 100 per cent tariffs on Canada over China deal
US president Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 100 per cent tariff on goods imported from Canada if America’s 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”.
Carney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The US leader’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 said 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.
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.
Trump targets Carney
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”.
Trump had used the same nickname for Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, and his use of it toward Carney was the latest mark of their soured relationship.
The Canadian prime minister 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.
Associated Press