Donald Trump threatens new tariffs on Canada over wildfire smoke

“The United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air, the quality of which is dangerous, and totally unacceptable!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. 

Carney’s office did not immediately respond when asked about Trump’s threat. 

Late Friday, Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski wrote in a statement that Canada and the U.S. have a “long history of working together to fight wildfires” and that “it is a history that both countries benefit from and that we are building on during this challenging wildfire season.”

The blazes know “no borders,” said Olszewski, who also highlighted Canada’s investments in forest sustainability and fire prevention.

The president’s post comes as talks drag on regarding how to resolve a trade war that Trump started after returning to office last year, with the U.S. imposing steep tariffs on Canadian sectors such as autos, steel and aluminum as part of a broad protectionist agenda aimed at bolstering American industries.

Negotiations have also stalled on the renewal of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, while Carney’s government has failed to disclose all details of a recent deal to hand over part of the revenue from the soon-to-open Gordie Howe Bridge between Windsor, Ont. and Detroit, Mich. — which Canada entirely financed for $6.4 billion — after Trump threatened to block its opening earlier this year. 

Meanwhile, with heavy smoke blanketing major cities in Canada and the U.S., some American politicians have blamed Canada for failing to prevent the haze from spreading over their country. 

“Sovereignty comes with responsibility, and the responsibility to prevent a foreseeable disaster from crossing into another country’s airspace has not been met,” read an open letter from four Republican members of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday. 

“Our constituents are breathing the consequences of this failure right now, and they deserve better than to be told, again, that it will be handled,” they wrote. 

Speaking to media in North York on Friday before Trump’s tariff threat, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the province is having “good conversations” with U.S. leaders in Minnesota and Massachusetts, but pushed back on criticism coming from some quarters. 

“I truly believe the Americans are good neighbours. If there’s some politicians out there chirping away, well, maybe what you should do, rather than complain, is send support, send help. Because we have done the exact same thing for our American friends,” Ford said. 

Asked Thursday about U.S. criticism of Canada’s wildfire smoke, Carney pointed to climate policy rollbacks under the Trump administration. The Liberal government has also faced criticism over policies that the prime minister has acknowledged will increase greenhouse-gas emissions in the coming years, including support for new oil and gas infrastructure.

Trump, meanwhile, has pulled out of the Paris Agreement — the formal global effort to rein in the damaging extremes of climate change — and promised to “drill, baby, drill” and green light massive development of the American fossil fuel sector. The Trump administration has also opposed the development of clean energy projects, which Carney noted on Thursday. 

“There needs to be an American contribution to the fight against climate change,” Carney said in French, adding that the U.S. have also “reduced their efforts” at a global level. 

“Climate change, it’s everybody’s responsibility… including the United States,” he said. 

Earlier this week, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra struck a more co-operative tone in a statement that called the wildfire smoke a “shared challenge” that “demands a shared response.

“The United States will continue to co-ordinate closely with Canada, just as we have for more than four decades of shared wildfire emergencies.” 

With files from Robert Benzie