Trump Threatens 100% Tariffs on Canada if It Finalizes China Trade Deal
US President Donald Trump has issued a sharp warning to Canada, vowing to slap a 100 percent tariff on all Canadian imports to the United States should Ottawa move forward with its newly announced trade agreement with China.
The dispute arose after Canada and China reached a deal last week that eases several longstanding tariff tensions. Under the terms, China will lower duties on key Canadian agricultural exports such as canola, while Canada will allow up to 49,000 Chinese-made electric vehicles to enter its market annually. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed the arrangement as opening “massive opportunities” for both countries and positioned it as a deliberate step toward diversifying Canada’s trade relationships away from over-reliance on any single partner.
In a Saturday morning post on Truth Social, Trump strongly criticized the move. He declared that Canada cannot be permitted to act as a “Drop Off Port” for Chinese goods seeking access to the American market. Trump warned that proceeding with the China deal would trigger an immediate 100 percent tariff on every Canadian product entering the US. In the same message, he referred to Carney as “governor” instead of prime minister, insisted that “Canada lives because of the United States,” and reminded the Canadian leader to keep that reality in mind.
The threat followed Trump’s earlier decision this week to withdraw an invitation for Carney to join his informal “Board of Peace.” It also came shortly after Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he described the current global order as experiencing a fundamental “rupture, not a transition” and urged middle powers to band together against economic coercion.
Canada’s minister responsible for Canada-US trade, Dominic LeBlanc, quickly responded on X, clarifying that the arrangement with China is not a comprehensive free trade agreement but a focused resolution of specific tariff barriers. LeBlanc stressed the new government’s priority of strengthening domestic economic resilience while actively pursuing broader international trade links.
Tensions between the two longtime allies have worsened markedly since Trump’s return to the presidency in January 2025. His administration has repeatedly floated steep tariffs on Canadian goods and even floated the provocative idea of Canada becoming the “51st state” of the United States. Analysts, including Canada-US relations expert Asa McKercher of St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, observe that Carney’s diversification push reflects growing Canadian concern over the reliability of the United States as both a trade and security partner amid persistent tariff threats.
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As of the latest reports from Al Jazeera, Carney’s office has not yet issued a public response to Trump’s most recent statement. The exchange underscores the deepening fracture in North American economic relations as Washington and Ottawa pursue sharply contrasting visions for trade and global engagement.