Trump Says “Nothing Canada Can Do” To Avoid Tariffs
On Friday, Donald Trump stated that he will be proceeding with his threats of implementing a 25% tariff on Canadian goods entering the country. The newly minted White House Press Secretary stated that the reason for these tariffs are because of the "massive amounts of fentanyl" crossing the border from Canada.
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Trump himself mentioned a “$200 billion” USD trade deficit between Canada and the US. According to TD Bank, the trade deficit between the two countries only amounts to $45 billion, so it is not clear where the President is getting his numbers.
Generally, it is unclear why the President is including Canada in measures clearly aimed at the Mexican border. Of the three reasons mentioned by the new American administration, illegal immigration, fentanyl smuggling, and an unfair trading relationship, Mexico ranks far higher than Canada. According to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) numbers, there were 24,000 encounters with migrants coming in from the Canadian border in contrast to the 1.5 million on the southern border. On fentanyl, 43 lbs were seized at the Canada-US border compared to 21,148 lbs at the Mexican border.
Considering these facts, President Trump was asked on Friday if there was anything Canada could do to avoid tariffs. Trump’s answer was: “not right now, no”. Today, Canada awaits the details of the tariffs which are to be announced at some point today.