Trump says Canada tariffs have ‘nothing to do’ with forcing trade talks

U.S. President Donald Trump connected Tuesday denied that his menace of sweeping tariffs connected goods from Canada and Mexico is meant to unit aboriginal commercialized renegotiations, insisting he’s responding to “massive” flows of fentanyl and migrants into the U.S.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s maneuver was meant to kickstart talks connected the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which replaced NAFTA during Trump’s archetypal word arsenic president, earlier it comes up for reappraisal successful 2026. The study cited radical acquainted with Trump’s thinking.

Asked astir the study during an unrelated property league astatine the White House, Trump said his menace of 25 per cent tariffs against Canada and Mexico, which helium said volition “probably” statesman connected Feb. 1, has “nothing to bash with” CUSMA.

“They’ve allowed — some of them, and Canada precise overmuch truthful — they’ve allowed millions and millions of radical to travel into our state that shouldn’t beryllium here,” helium said. “They could person stopped them and they didn’t.

“The fentanyl coming done Canada is massive. The fentanyl coming done Mexico is massive. And radical are getting killed and families are being destroyed.”

Trump besides said said his medication is discussing imposing a 10 per cent tariff connected goods imported from China connected Feb. 1 “based connected the information that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada.”

Trump has antecedently said helium wants to reopen CUSMA erstwhile it comes up for reappraisal to adjacent loopholes that Canadian and U.S. officials accidental are being exploited by China to participate the North American car marketplace done Mexico.

The president signed a sweeping enforcement bid connected commercialized argumentation Monday that included a absorption to the U.S. commercialized typical to commence nationalist consultations “in preparation” for CUSMA’s scheduled 2026 review, measure the commercialized agreement’s interaction connected American workers and cultivation producers, “and marque recommendations regarding the United States’ information successful the agreement.” The bid acceptable an April 1 deadline for that study and different commercialized argumentation reviews.

Trump has agelong tied his tariff menace to concerns astir quality and cause smuggling into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico.

Ottawa has sought to respond to those issues with a borderline information program it elaborate past week, but Trump has continued to repetition his claims. He called Canada “a precise atrocious abuser” of the U.S. borderline soon aft his inauguration Monday.

Speaking extracurricular the Liberal furniture retreat successful Quebec earlier Tuesday, Ambassador Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s envoy to the U.S., pushed backmost connected Trump’s rhetoric.

“Those are not words that Canada would usage successful speaking astir our closest person and ally,” she told reporters.

“When it comes to our border, Canadians cognize the facts: determination is nary transgression trafficking of fentanyl to the United States from Canada, we correspond little than 1 per cent of immoderate amerciable crossings.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it seized much than 5,000 kg of amerciable drugs astatine the Canadian borderline during the past fiscal twelvemonth betwixt October 2023 and September 2024. That included 19.5 kg of fentanyl — a much than 200-per cent summation from 2 years prior.

That fig pales compared to the 9,570 kg of fentanyl seized astatine the U.S.-Mexico borderline during the aforesaid clip period, which besides saw 316 kg seized astatine coastal and interior checkpoints successful confederate states.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, 2 milligrams of fentanyl is simply a perchance fatal dose.

Migrant encounters astatine the bluish border, meanwhile, totaled 23,731 radical successful the past fiscal year, much than treble the twelvemonth before, though the fig of monthly encounters has been declining sharply since past June. Over 1.5 cardinal migrants were encountered astatine the confederate borderline past year.

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During Tuesday’s property conference, Trump made respective references to tariffing different U.S. allies and trading partners similar the European Union. He has often claimed tariffs volition rise authorities revenues that volition beryllium utilized to little costs for Americans, contempt economists saying prices connected tariffed goods volition emergence for U.S. consumers, and volition besides close commercialized deficits.

“It’s the lone mode you’re going to get fairness,” helium said. “You can’t get fairness unless you bash that.”

Trump besides repeated his assertions, which experts telephone “preposterous,” that California tin “turn the valve” and bring successful h2o that flows from Canada into the Pacific Northwest. Water absorption experts have said the infrastructure does not beryllium for that.

“They person each this water, and it’s truly bully h2o up precocious successful the Pacific Northwest,” Trump said. “Some comes successful from Canada — bully country, by the way.”

Trump said he’ll contented an enforcement bid “demanding that they instantly fto that h2o travel down done to California farmers, adjacent radical surviving successful Beverly Hills.”

Hillman said the borderline is conscionable “one of the halfway issues” Trump is focused on, alongside economical “fairness” and “energy dominance,” which Canada wants to enactment with the U.S. connected achieving.

“It is simply a borderline that has 2 sides,” she said. “We besides person things that we privation to speech to them about, astir however we negociate our border. That is wherever we request to beryllium paying attention.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier Tuesday helium is successful favour of imposing “matching” retaliatory tariffs if Trump follows done with his tariff threat.

“I enactment the rule of dollar-for-dollar matching tariffs. It’s thing that we are perfectly going to beryllium looking astatine if that is however they determination forward,” helium told reporters extracurricular the furniture retreat.

—with files from Global’s Saba Aziz