Trump threatens Canada with 100% tariffs over China trade talks

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 100% tariffs on all Canadian goods if Canada’s prime minister reaches a trade deal with China.

“If Canada reaches an agreement with China, 100% tariffs will immediately be imposed on all Canadian goods and products entering the United States,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday.

Tensions between Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney have escalated in recent days after Carney defied world powers in a speech in Davos, Switzerland.

He recently met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and announced that the two countries had reached a trade deal that included electric vehicles.

At the time, Trump hailed the potential deal as “a good thing.”

It’s unclear whether the agreement has gone into effect or whether Trump specifically mentioned it. The BBC has contacted the White House, Carney’s office and Canada’s minister responsible for U.S.-Canada trade for comment.

In a post on Saturday, Trump called the Canadian prime minister “Governor Carney” and wrote that if he “thinks he will make Canada a ‘port of landing’ for Chinese goods and products shipped to the United States, he is sadly mistaken.”

Trump did not provide a timetable or more information on the threatened tariffs. Last year, when Trump first threatened new tariffs on America’s northern neighbor, he began referring to Canada as America’s “51st state,” with Carney serving as its “governor,” and hinting that he might try to take over the country outright.

While relations between the two countries have been improving in recent months, Trump’s push for control of Greenland and his comments about NATO have put him at odds with Canadian and European leaders. Carney did not mention the president by name in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland this week, but he still angered Trump.

“Canada exists because of America,” Trump said in remarks after Carney.