Donald Trump started his week by raging against Canada and threatening to ramp up the trade war with America’s closest ally after attempts to strike a last-minute deal fell apart.
Trump, 80, insisted the U.S. did not need Canada and announced 50 percent tariffs on a series of goods crossing the border starting next year.
His tariff tirade came as Americans are already struggling to cope with high prices and Republicans were looking for some relief heading into the midterms, but Trump has other plans.
“Canada has been ripping off the United States of America for years,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Their ridiculously high tariffs on our Farmers and farm products has made life impossible for these great American Patriots, and has long created a 60 Billion Dollar Deficit between our two Countries. Not sustainable, and NOT ANYMORE!”
The president wrote that as of January 1, “Tariffs on all Cars, Trucks, both large and small, Automotive Parts, and Steel, will be increased to 50%.”
He bizarrely ranted that “Canada will be treated like a State no longer!” and went so far as to claim it is “among the worst Nations in the World to deal with.”
“They feel entitled, and yet, WE DON’T NEED CANADA, THEY NEED US! They do 95% of their business with the U.S., with us, the exact opposite!” Trump wrote.
It comes after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced over the weekend a set of retaliatory tariffs starting on September 8 in response to Trump enacting 50 percent tariffs on about $20 billion worth of goods early Saturday.
Among the Canadian goods Trump said would be hit with tariffs over the weekend were building materials such as plywood, dairy products, paper, clothing and alcohol.
But Carney said Canada was suspending talks because of last-minute terms demanded by the U.S. In a speech on Saturday, the prime minister said Canada was “ going to war” after being “attacked” by the U.S. The retaliatory tariffs targeted steel, dairy, appliances, paper, electronics, and more.
He said the U.S. demands were “uneconomic, unfair, and undermined the net benefits to Canada.” He also declared that Canada was “becoming stronger and less dependent on America.”
On Monday, Carney doubled down that Canada will stand up for itself. He said the progress that had been made last week on a deal had reversed, and Canada could not accept the U.S. offer.
“Canada is now the best connected economy in the world,” Carney said, touting deals made with other countries. “We can build such unparalleled access because we’re trusted, because we’re reliable and because we have what the world wants.”
The escalating trade war came after Trump indicated twice last week that both sides were closing in on a deal and suggested that only a few details remained to be worked out before Canada suspended negotiations.
In a separate post in the middle of the night on Sunday, Trump wrote: “Canada wants the benefits of being a State, without being one!!! They have also charged our great farmers, for many years, massive amounts of Tariffs. No more!!!”
The president’s post on Monday announcing new tariffs that would kick in on January 1 gives him plenty of time to change course.
The U.S. has slapped tariffs on dozens of countries as part of the president’s broad economic strategy since returning to office. He has also at times threatened to impose tariffs as a negotiating tactic only to back off as the deadline loomed. The move has earned him the nickname “TACO” for Trump Always Chickens Out on Wall Street.
Just last week, Trump paused the 50 percent tariffs on Canada for three days, just before they were set to go into effect, in an effort to finalize a deal before negotiations fell apart days later.
However, the president’s relationship with Carney has become increasingly tense after they started on a strong note with the departure of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who Trump mocked as “governor.”
The president’s team has not been doing the relationship with the neighbor to the north any favors. Over the weekend, Trump’s reality-star-turned-Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy took to television to claim Canada had no military.
Duffy was quickly savaged online with comments correcting him that Canada does, in fact, have a military, and that Canadians fought and died alongside Americans in Afghanistan.
