President Donald Trump intensified his rhetoric against Canada on Monday, calling America's northern neighbor "one of the worst countries in the entire world" as trade tensions between the two allies continued to escalate. Last month, Trump placed 50 percent tariffs on roughly $28 billion worth of Canadian goods, and Prime Minister Mark Carney responded “dollar for dollar.” Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump accused Canada of treating the United States "very unfairly," citing what he described as steep tariffs on American agricultural products and claiming Canadian leaders "feel entitled." "They want to have a deal with us," Trump said of Canada. "They call us all the time.
The problem is, they have treated the United States very unfairly. They have been one of the worst countries in the entire world. We get along with China, we get along with people, we make good deals, but Canada has been really very difficult to deal with, actually, and they charge our farmers 400% tariffs and more.
They take advantage of us. They feel entitled." Trump also argued that Canada relies heavily on the U.S. economy while offering little in return, saying Americans provide support ranging from military cooperation to icebreakers. He said Canada has become overly dependent on its southern neighbor and insisted the U.S. does not need Canadian resources, adding that "there's nothing they have that we need." Canada remains the United States' second-largest trading partner, second only to Mexico in total trade volume.
Trump's comments come days after Carney backed the idea of Canada becoming the European Union's first associate member, a move he said would deepen economic ties with Europe and help ensure no single country could dominate Canada's markets. As relations with Washington have deteriorated, Carney has moved to strengthen ties elsewhere, pursuing a trade pact with India and repairing relations with China through an agreement that reduced tariffs on Canadian canola and opened Canada's market to a limited number of Chinese EVs. Todd Belt, a professor of political management at George Washington University, told Newsweek this month that he thinks the White House never saw any of it coming.
"Donald Trump underestimated Carney's resolve," he said. "He probably thought that since he was new in office, he would be able to boss him around. And that didn't happen." Belt says Trump also failed to anticipate the shape retaliation would take.
"The Canadians would respond in kind, and they would do so in a fashion where they deliberately targeted Senate toss-up seats," he said, referring to states like Michigan, Ohio and Alaska. This is a breaking news article. Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
