U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to slap a 35 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods as the two countries have been engaged in negotiations to reach some sort of trade agreement.
Trump’s latest threat came in a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney that the president posted to his social media site, Truth Social, on Thursday evening.
“There will be no tariff if Canada, or companies within your country, decide to manufacture product within the United States,” the letter reads.
Trump said the tariffs will take effect on Aug. 1, and wrote that he will increase the levies if Canada retaliates.
Trump and Carney have been locked in negotiations to come to some sort of trade resolution by July 21. CBC News has reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office for comment.
In his letter, Trump again cited fentanyl “pouring” into the U.S. from Canada — even though data continues to show that minimal amounts of the drug are crossing the Canada-U.S. border compared to the U.S.’s southern border.
Trump has been complaining about fentanyl crossing the northern border since he was re-elected in November, and after taking office he imposed tariffs he said are designed to punish Canada for not doing enough to crack down on the fentanyl drug trade.
Now, the president seems to be taking the border-related tariffs a step further by promising a 35 per cent levy. The U.S. is currently imposing a 25 per cent tariff on all non-CUSMA compliant goods coming from Canada and a lower 10 per cent rate on energy and potash as part of a border-related tariffs regime.
Ottawa announced a $1.3-billion investment in border security and named a fentanyl czar to address the fentanyl concerns coming from the White House.
The U.S. has also hit Canadian steel, aluminum and autos with an import levy, which have been particularly damaging to the Canadian economy, leading to job losses and a drop in exports.
Trump has also been promising to slap a 50 per cent tariff on copper coming into the U.S. According to federal data, Canada exported some $9.3 billion worth of copper and copper-based products in 2023, with a majority of that — 52 per cent — going to the U.S. China and Japan followed, with 17 and 12 per cent of Canadian exports, respectively.
