OTTAWA — U.S. President Donald Trump repeated on Friday his threat to impose another round of tariffs on Canada, this time over the wildfires that have spread smoke into the United States.
Speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C., Trump said “we’re going to put a big tariff on Canada because of the smoke.”
It was the third time this week that the White House has promised new tariffs on Canada, ratcheting up pressure on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to resolve a trade war that has threatened the trade agreement with the U.S. and Mexico over the past year.
“I’ve told Canada they have to do something about it. We’ve never had this problem. All of a sudden we have this problem with Canada, so we’ll have to talk to them about that,” Trump said.
The Prime Minister’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Earlier this week, the U.S. administration threatened to slap a 50 per cent tariff on a slew of Canadian goods, claiming the country was discriminating against Americans because of dairy protections and actions taken in response to previous U.S. tariffs, including the removal of American alcohol from provincially operated liquor stores.
The U.S. also promised a new round of tariffs against countries it sees as failing to prevent forced labour from being used in supply chains, although those duties won’t apply to goods eligible under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on trade.
Last week, Trump posted on social media that Canada has failed to manage its forests and prevent the fires in northern Ontario that blanketed major cities in both countries with smoke. Two days later, Carney spoke with Trump about Canada’s wildfire response while they were together at the World Cup Final in New Jersey.
After meeting the premiers at a first ministers’ conference in Charlottetown this week, Carney made a point of thanking Mexico for sending 200 firefighters to help battle the blazes.
“That’s what friends do when you have crisis and fires,” Carney said. “This is our time of need and Mexico is stepping up.”
Carney has since said Ottawa will intensify trade negotiations with the U.S. as provincial premiers press for a resolution to months of tariff tension.
