Trade Tensions With China Add Fuel
The dispute over the bridge unfolded against a broader backdrop of trade friction. Trump renewed his warning that he would impose a 100% tariff on Canadian imports if Ottawa advances a trade agreement with China.
Referring to Prime Minister Mark Carney as “Governor Carney” — echoing his oft-stated suggestion that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state — Trump wrote that if Carney “thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken.”
Canada has not finalized a trade agreement with the United States, and the 2020 Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement is scheduled for review this year.
“Prime Minister Carney wants to make a deal with China — which will eat Canada alive. We’ll just get the leftovers! I don’t think so,” Trump wrote. He then added a sweeping and unsubstantiated claim: “The first thing China will do is terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup.”
Trump also criticized Canadian tariffs on U.S. dairy products, calling them unacceptable and harmful to American farmers.
“The Tariffs Canada charges us for our Dairy products have, for many years, been unacceptable, putting our Farmers at great financial risk,” he wrote. “I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve.”
