Trump says Canada will pay the price for dealing with China: 100% tariff

President Trump threatened to slap Canada with a 100% tariff if the northern neighbor strikes a trade deal with China.

“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. China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life,” he said Saturday on social media.

The president had suggested that “it would be a good thing” if Prime Minister Mark Carney made a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Now he’s changing his tune, saying, “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.”

In the latest deal, Canada would pay lower tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in exchange for lower taxes on Canadian agricultural products exported to China.

Matthew Holmes, the executive vice president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said his government has openly shared that the deal is aimed at domestic consumers and businesses in Canada and China, not “schemes aimed at other markets.” 

“No business can survive forever with one customer. And our global economy is changing,” he said in a statement. “A structured and stable relationship with China or any other country, like our new engagements with Indonesia or the UAE, are not to replace our deeply rooted relationship with the United States that continues to be overwhelmingly good for workers, consumers and North American competitiveness.”

He urged the two governments to come to a better understanding quickly to alleviate problems for businesses that face the “immediate consequences of torqued up uncertainty.” 

Tension between the U.S. and Canada was palpable this week, with both leaders lashing out at each other at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Mr. Trump said that “Canada lives because of the United States” and his invitation for Mr. Carney to join his Board of Peace.

The prime minister said his country and the U.S. have built a remarkable economic partnership, but added, “We are masters in our home, this is our own country, it’s our future, the choice is up to us.”

He described this era as a “rupture,” urging other leaders to stand up against it. 

“Every day we’re reminded that we live in an era of great-power rivalry,” Mr. Carney said. “That rules-based order is fading — that the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must.” 

He said his country can be an example that others don’t have to bend toward autocratic tendencies — a direct jab at the U.S. president.

Mr. Carney said he opposed Mr. Trump’s proposed tariffs on European countries amid the president’s aim to take control of Greenland. 

Mr. Trump backtracked on the tariffs after he and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte reached the “framework” of a deal over acquiring the Arctic island.