From August 1, U.S. President Donald Trump will impose a 35 per cent duty on imported goods from Canada, something he asserts is justified by what he deems Canada's insufficient actions in preventing the inflow of fentanyl to America.
In a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and uploaded on Trump's social media site, the former president cautioned that the tariff would increase if Canada decides to retaliate.
"If Canada assists me in closing off the fentanyl flow, we will maybe make a change in this letter," Trump said in the letter. He also indicated that the tariff could be changed—raised or lowered—depending on the course of future bilateral relations.
Trump's position seems to go against current evidence, which indicates that the majority of fentanyl coming into the U.S. is from Mexico through the southern border and not from Canada.
This move is an intensification of Trump's continuing trade war. Apart from Canada, he recently imposed new tariffs on countries including Japan and South Korea, and announced a new 50 percent tariff on copper imports.
In an interview released Thursday by NBC News, Trump suggested wider intentions to impose flat-rate tariffs of between 15 to 20 per cent on other nations. Such moves, he indicated, would depend on how countries approach trade and collaborate on security issues.
The U.S. had already imposed a 25 per cent tariff on some Canadian products. Most of those tariffs, however, were withdrawn after the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). It is not clear if current exemptions under that agreement would stay under the new tariff regime.
Up to now, Prime Minister Carney has not publicly reacted to Trump's announcement.
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