President Donald Trump on Saturday escalated trade tensions with Canada, threatening to impose a sweeping 100% tariff

BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA

President Donald Trump on Saturday escalated trade tensions with Canada, threatening to impose a sweeping 100% tariff on Canadian imports if Ottawa proceeds with a recent trade arrangement with China, a move that sharpens a growing political and economic feud with Prime Minister Mark Carney.

In a social media post, Trump warned that the United States would not tolerate Canada serving as what he described as a transit point for Chinese goods entering the American market. He said that if Carney believed Canada could function as a “drop-off port” for Chinese products bound for the United States, he was “sorely mistaken,” signaling a willingness to dramatically expand tariffs already imposed during Trump’s renewed trade offensive.

The warning marked a sharp reversal in tone from earlier remarks by Trump, who had initially praised Canada’s agreement with China. That deal, announced this month, would lower Chinese tariffs on Canadian agricultural exports in exchange for reduced Canadian duties on Chinese electric vehicles. At the time, Trump said the agreement was something Carney “should be doing” and called it a positive step.

Canadian officials have sought to play down the scope of the arrangement. Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for trade with the United States, said Canada and China had resolved “several important trade issues,” but emphasized that Ottawa was not pursuing a full free-trade agreement with Beijing.

Trump’s latest threat comes amid an increasingly heated exchange between the two leaders, unfolding against the backdrop of broader geopolitical strain within the NATO alliance. The Republican president’s repeated suggestions that the United States should acquire Greenland have already unsettled allies, and his pointed comments about Canada’s sovereignty have further inflamed tensions.

While attending the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, Trump remarked that “Canada lives because of the United States,” a comment that drew a swift and forceful response from Carney. The Canadian prime minister said his country’s success was rooted in its own institutions and values, arguing that Canada could serve as proof that nations do not need to bend toward autocratic tendencies. “Canada doesn’t live because of the United States,” Carney said. “Canada thrives because we are Canadian.”

Relations between the two leaders deteriorated further after Trump revoked Carney’s invitation to join a proposed presidential “Board of Peace,” a body Trump has said he wants to assemble to help resolve global conflicts.

Trump has also continued to needle Canada publicly over its independence, at times suggesting it should be absorbed into the United States as a 51st state. This week, he shared an altered image online depicting an expanded U.S. map that included Canada, Greenland, Venezuela and Cuba as American territory. In his post on Saturday, Trump again referred to the Canadian leader as “Governor Carney,” a nickname he previously used for former prime minister Justin Trudeau, underscoring the increasingly personal nature of the dispute.

Political analysts say the tone marks a notable shift. Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, said Trump initially appeared to treat Carney with more respect than his predecessor. That changed, Béland said, after Carney’s recent visit to China and his high-profile speech in Davos, which received widespread attention and praise. “After that speech, which clearly outshined and upset Trump, the gloves are off,” Béland said.

Carney has positioned himself as a leading voice among so-called middle powers seeking to coordinate their response to what they see as coercive pressure from larger states. Speaking in Davos ahead of Trump, he warned that countries not represented at the negotiating table risk being exploited, a remark widely interpreted as a veiled critique of U.S. tactics under Trump. He also spoke openly of a “rupture” between Washington and its Western allies that he suggested may never fully heal.

In subsequent posts on Saturday, Trump intensified his rhetoric, warning that China would “eat Canada alive” and “completely devour it,” including what he described as the destruction of its businesses and social fabric. He later added that the world could not allow China to “take over Canada,” insisting such an outcome would not happen.

Despite the heated exchanges, Carney has yet to secure an agreement with Trump to roll back tariffs imposed on key Canadian industries. Canada has so far been shielded from the most severe impacts by the Canada–U.S.–Mexico Agreement, though that pact is due for a formal review later this year.

Trade frictions flared last fall when the Canadian province of Ontario aired an anti-tariff advertisement in the United States that quoted former President Ronald Reagan criticizing protectionism. Trump responded by suspending trade talks and threatening to raise tariffs on Canadian imports by an additional 10%, a step he ultimately did not take.

Canada’s evolving relationship with China has become a focal point in this dispute. Ottawa initially mirrored Washington by imposing steep tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, as well as duties on steel and aluminum. Beijing retaliated with heavy import taxes on Canadian canola products, pork and seafood. As U.S. pressure intensified under Trump, Canadian foreign policy has drifted from close alignment with Washington, creating space for renewed engagement with China. Carney announced the latest tariff adjustments during a visit to Beijing earlier this month.

Carney has acknowledged that Canada’s relationship with the United States remains deep and complex, while also noting persistent disagreements with China, particularly over human rights. LeBlanc said Canada would continue working to ensure that its economic ties with the United States benefit workers and businesses on both sides of the border.

The stakes are high for both countries. Canada is the largest export market for 36 U.S. states, with roughly 3.6 billion Canadian dollars’ worth of goods and services crossing the border every day. Canada supplies about 60% of U.S. crude oil imports and the vast majority of imported electricity. It is also the largest foreign source of steel, aluminum and uranium for the United States and holds dozens of critical minerals that the Pentagon considers vital to national security.

As Trump’s tariff threat looms, the confrontation underscores how trade, geopolitics and personal rivalry are increasingly colliding in the once-stable U.S.–Canada relationship.