Trump threatens Canada with 100% tariff over China trade talks

US President Donald Trump has threatened Canada with a 100% tariff on all Canadian goods if the country’s prime minister strikes a trade deal with China.

“If Canada makes a deal with China, there will be an immediate 100% tariff on all Canadian goods and products coming into the United States,” Trump wrote on social media platform Truth Social on Saturday.

Tensions between Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney have escalated in recent days after Carney gave a speech in Davos, Switzerland, opposing the world’s major powers.

He recently met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and announced that their country had reached a trade agreement that includes electric vehicles.

At the time, Trump hailed the potential deal as “a good thing.”

It’s unclear whether this agreement has gone into effect or whether Trump specifically mentioned it. The BBC has reached out to the White House, Carney’s office and Canada’s minister for US-Canada trade for comment.

In his post on Saturday, Trump referred to the prime minister as “Governor Carney” and wrote, “He is sorely mistaken if he thinks Canada will become a ‘Drop Port’ for China to ship goods and products to the United States.”

Trump did not provide a timeline or further information on the threatened tariff. Last year, when he first threatened new tariffs on the US’s northern neighbor, Trump began calling Canada, of which Carney is “governor”, the US’s “51st state” and suggested he might try to take over the country entirely.

While the countries’ relations have improved in recent months, Trump’s push to gain control of Greenland and his comments about NATO have put him at odds with Canadian and European leaders. Carney did not mention the president by name in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland this week, but he still angered Trump.

“Canada is alive because of the United States,” Trump said in his own speech after Carney.