United States President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff against Canada if Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney relocates ahead with an announced trade deal with China.
In a statement shared on Truth Social on Saturday morning, Trump stated Carney is “sorely mistaken” if he believes Canada can become a “‘Drop Off Port’ for China to sfinish goods and products into the United States”.
“If Canada creates 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,” Trump wrote in the post, which referred to Carney as “governor” instead of prime minister.
Carney’s office did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on Trump’s remarks.
The Canadian minister responsible for Canada-US trade, Dominic LeBlanc, stated on X later on Saturday that “there is no pursuit of a free trade deal with China”.
Instead, he described a deal announced last week between Ottawa and Beijing as a “resolution on several important tariff issues”.
“Canada’s new government is building a stronger Canadian economy, with a plan that is building our strength at home and strengthening our trading partnerships throughout the world,” LeBlanc stated.
Trump’s tariffs threat comes as tensions mounted between Canada and the US this week after Carney delivered an address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that was widely seen as a rebuke of the Trump administration’s policies.
“We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” Carney stated in the speech, urging the world’s “middle powers” to deepen cooperation in the face of coercion and threats.
The prime minister’s remarks drew the ire of Trump, who responded by declareing that “Canada lives becaapply of the United States”. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you create your statements,” he stated in Davos.
Trump also revoked an invitation for Carney to join his so-called “Board of Peace” this week.
The US president has been threatening to impose steep levies on Canadian goods since before he formally came into office in January 2025, while he has repeatedly stated he wants Canada to become the US’s “51st state”.
That has plunged ties between the North American neighbours to historic lows, and pushed Carney in recent months to seek out new economic partnerships, including with China, the European Union and Qatar.
“This is all part of Mr Carney’s goal to lessen [Canada’s] reliance on the United States,” Asa McKercher, a professor at St Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia specialised in Canada-US relations, informed Al Jazeera after the Davos speech.
“He’s a banker, so any sort of ‘diversified portfolio’ lessens our risk to certain shocks. That’s the way a banker would probably see it,” McKercher stated.
“[Carney] senses the US is a risky trade and security partner, which is not a bad assessment given that Donald Trump is threatening a trade war against America’s closest allies.”
Last week, the Canadian government announced a “new strategic partnership” with China after Carney travelled to the counattempt for talks with Chinese leaders.
The deal would see Beijing lower tariffs on canola and other agriproducts from Canada in exmodify for Ottawa allowing as many as 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian market.
“At its best, the Canada-China relationship has created massive opportunities for both our peoples,” Carney stated in a statement after the announcement.
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