President Donald Trump has threatened a 35 percent tariff on Canadian goods and says he may double what other nations are charged.
Trump is playing hardball with countries that have yet to make a trade deal with him.
In a letter sent to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney Thursday, Trump said the U.S. will charge a 35 percent tariff on goods imported from Canada starting August 1.
Trump has already imposed some hefty levies on Canada since taking office, which he told Carney was in response to “failure to stop [fentanyl] from pouring into our Country.”
Then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in February less than 1 percent of street fentanyl in the U.S. comes from Canada.
Trump added in his letter, “The flow of Fentanyl is hardly the only challenge we have with Canada,” writing that the country “charges extraordinary Tariffs to our Dairy Farmers.”
The president said his administration “will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter” if Canada works to stop the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.
Canadian goods that are not under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement Trump brokered during his first term are already subject to a 25 percent tariff. Canadian energy imports face a 10 percent levy.
Carney has yet to publicly respond to Trump’s letter.
He also told NBC News Thursday he plans to impose higher blanket tariffs on most trade partners. There is currently a 10 percent blanket tariff on all countries.
“We’re just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it’s 20% or 15%. We’ll work that out now,” he said.
This is a developing story…