Trump ratchets up tariff tension with Canada’s Trudeau over border policies

As Canada attempts to defuse a growing trade war, US President Donald Trump has escalated his rhetorical conflict with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Trump accessed Truth Social on Wednesday to share his version of a meeting he had with Trudeau during lunch.

Without providing any specifics, Trump said, “The call ended in a “middle-of-a friendly manner.”

However, the Republican leader did accuse Trudeau of not doing enough to combat fentanyl trafficking, which experts believe poses only minor security along the Canadian border.

Trump has openly questioned Trudeau’s influence on the upcoming federal elections in Canada, as he has done with other world leaders. He also has attempted to question the legitimacy of his government.

Tariff pressure

The US’s two largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico, as well as its neighbors, have been the subject of high-level negotiations, which come one day after Trump imposed 25-percent tariffs on products from both of its neighbors, the US.

The two nations had been accustom to those high tariffs for some time.

Trump made the announcement shortly after taking office in November that he would use the 25% tariffs to impose a tighter border between Canada and Mexico.

He also mentioned that Canada could renounce its country’s sovereignty and acquiesce to the US’s 51st state by avoiding such exorbitant tariffs.

Trump set a date for the beginning of February as soon as they take office on January 20. However, both Canada and Mexico made compromises that allowed the tariffs to be delayed to prevent the anticipated economic harms.

For Mexico, that meant deploying 10, 000 National Guard personnel to the US border. The compromise also included the creation of a “fentanyl tsar” and a task force to combat drug trafficking for Canada.

The delay ended on Tuesday, and now the US tariffs are in effect.

The nascent trade war’s opening salvoes were immediately followed by Canada and Mexico with their own retaliatory tariffs.

We are polite and Canadians are reasonable. However, we won’t back down in a fight. Not when our nation’s well-being and that of everyone in it are at stake,” Trudeau said on Tuesday.

He warned that a trade standoff would harm all three countries’ economies.

The “big three” US automakers, Ford, Stellantis, and General Motors, successfully petitioned Trump for a one-month exemption from the tariffs on Wednesday, causing a number of industries to be rattled by the hefty import duties already.

Canada has meanwhile filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization about the high tariffs and has vowed to end the trade dispute with the Trump administration.

The tariffs are in contravention of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which was signed into force during Trump’s first term, according to it.

Concentrate on fentanyl

Trump cited fentanyl as the main issue in the tariff negotiations in his Truth Social post on Wednesday.

What could be done about tariffs, Justin Trudeau, of Canada, called me. Nothing has persuaded me that Fentanyl has stopped, as I told him, and it had already killed so many people who crossed the border between Canada and Mexico, Trump wrote.

He claimed that the quality had improved, but I responded, “That’s not good enough.”

Given the relatively small amounts of fentanyl that enter the US from the north, experts have questioned whether the focus on fentanyl at the Canadian border is misplaced.

The tariffs have been referred to as “unjustified” by Canada itself. It has pointed out that less than 1% of fentanyl is seized along the US’s shared border, according to the US government’s own statistics.

Only about 19.5 kilogrammes (43 pounds) were sequestered at the nation’s northern border for the fiscal year 2024, according to the US Customs and Border Protection website.

More than 9, 934 kg (21, 900 pounds) were seized in the US that year, out of a total of more than 9, 934 kg (21, 900 pounds).

Trump criticized Trudeau on Wednesday for “Weak Border Policies,” which are “responsible for the death of many people.”

And his administration defended its tariffs by defending itself against accusations that it had invented a problem.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt yelled at a reporter at a news briefing on Wednesday, citing how much fentanyl imported from Canada could fit into a “carry-on suitcase.”

You’re asking me what the president’s justification for these tariffs is. You decide not, of course. Leavitt responded, “You’re not the president.” “Frankly, I think it’s a little disrespectful to the families who have lost loved ones as a result of this deadly poison,” the author said.

contesting the elections in Canada

Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s finance minister, stated on Tuesday that he and his US counterpart, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, have been negotiating ways to avoid the tariffs and that he has been speaking with him on the CBC television program The National.

LeBlanc argued, however, that the only solution would be to have the tariffs completely eliminated. He demanded that the US “return to adhering to the free trade agreement.”

LeBlanc stated, “We don’t want to see a tariff reduction in any way.” Once the tariffs are lifted, we want the United States and Mexico’s free trade agreement to be respected, and we’ll work with the US government on issues.

He continued, “This is not going to go down the tariffs or meeting someone halfway.” We want to prevent tariffs on Canadian goods and services from entering the country.

Trump has, however, used the tariffs as a means of compulsion to ally himself with the US and abandon Canada.

Trump has repeatedly vowed to expand US territory abroad during his second term, including by “reclaiming” the Panama Canal, a claim he made in a joint statement to the US Congress on Tuesday.

Trump once more referred to Trudeau as a “governor,” a term used by US presidents on Wednesday.

He also made an attempt to make people question whether Trudeau’s position of power was legitimate by proposing conspiratorially in relation to the upcoming federal elections in Canada.

Trump wrote of Trudeau, “He was unable to tell me when the Canadian election is taking place, which piqued my interest.” What’s happening here, exactly? Then I realized that he is attempting to maintain power through this problem. Good luck, Justin”!

Trump has a history of questioning the legitimacy of other leaders. He referred to another elected official, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a “dictator” in February because he allegedly rigged election results during the war. Russia is currently preventing a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

However, Trump’s attempts to demonize Trudeau may have had the opposite effect.

After years of trailing the Conservative Party of Canada in the polls, Trudeau’s Liberal Party resurrected popular support, which some experts attribute in part to a backlash against Trump.

On March 9, Trudeau will resign as leader of the Liberal Party after winning his replacement.

Source: Aljazeera