Trump set to hit Canada with 35% tariffs
The president accused Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of failing to stop the cross-border flow of fentanyl
What happened
President Donald Trump Thursday threatened to increase tariffs on Canadian imports from 25% to 35% from next month. In a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney posted on social media, Trump accused Canada of failing to stop the cross-border flow of fentanyl, charging "extraordinary" tariffs on U.S. dairy farmers, and imposing retaliatory tariffs "instead of working with the United States."
Who said what
"If Canada works with me to stop the flow of fentanyl, we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter," Trump wrote. His latest tariff threat, said The Washington Post, brings "fresh turmoil" to the "already strained" relationship between the U.S. and the neighboring nation, which sent $410 billion in goods across the border last year.
This escalation "stands to derail" Carney's bid to "set a better tone" with his American counterpart, said The Wall Street Journal. A "tariff-free U.S.-Canada trading relationship going forward" appears "unlikely," Julia Webster, a trade lawyer in Toronto, told the paper.
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What next?
Carney said he would work toward agreeing a U.S. trade deal by the "revised deadline of August 1." Meanwhile, Trump's trade proposal for the European Union is expected as early as today.
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