WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Saturday (Jan 24) said he would impose a 100 per cent tariff on Canada if it makes a trade deal with China and warned Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that a deal would endanger his country.
“China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A.”
Carney during a recent visit to China called the Asian superpower a “reliable and predictable partner” and in Davos encouraged European leaders to seek investment from the world’s second-largest economy.
Trump suggested that China would try to use Canada to evade US tariffs.
“If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken.”
Tensions between the US and its northern neighbour have grown in recent days.
Trump on Thursday withdrew an invitation for Canada to join his Board of Peace initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts.
That about-face followed Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he openly decried powerful nations using economic integration as weapons and tariffs as leverage.