Trump pushes ‘state’ rhetoric as trade war with Canada deepens
US President Donald Trump lashed out at Canada, accusing Ottawa of seeking “the benefits of being a State, without being one,” after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed retaliatory tariffs in response to Washington’s new trade measures.
“They have also charged our great farmers, for many years, massive amounts of tariffs. No more!!!” Trump wrote on social media on Sunday.
Trump’s remarks came after Washington imposed 50-percent tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, further escalating the trade dispute and putting additional pressure on Canadian businesses and workers.
Carney has pledged a “dollar-for-dollar” response, raising the prospect of a further escalation in the trade confrontation between the two neighbors.
The PM told Canadian journalists on Friday that the country was “at war” over trade with the US, after Trump “miscalculated” by escalating his tariff attack.
Carney said the retaliatory measures would take effect on September 8, with Ottawa preparing to impose matching tariffs on a range of US imports, including steel, dairy products, appliances, agricultural equipment, paper and electronics.
“We pursued every opportunity to reach an agreement that protects Canadian workers and their families, that strengthens our economy and that respects Canadian sovereignty,” Carney said, adding that Ottawa was taking the step “reluctantly.”
The latest tariffs follow weeks of uncertainty over whether Washington would implement the measures, which were first announced in July amid increasingly contentious trade negotiations between the two countries.
The escalation prompted strong opposition from Canadian provincial leaders, including British Columbia Premier David Eby, who said his government would support Ottawa’s countermeasures.
On Saturday, Eby said British Columbia would be disproportionately affected by the new 50-percent US duties on certain Canadian goods, warning that the proposed terms of Washington’s deal with Ottawa exposed the “true nature” of what the White House was seeking from Canada.
He also questioned whether Trump could be trusted, saying Ottawa should consider “every possible weapon that can be deployed” in response to what he described as an “economic war.”
“The suggestion that Canada would not trade with other countries or reduce our trade with other countries ... would reduce us to the economic equivalent of the 51st state,” Eby said.
Trump has also said he intends to use US “economic force” as leverage to pursue his longstanding proposal of making Canada the 51st US state, adding a broader political dimension to the escalating trade dispute.
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