Trump Threatens Canada with Total Tariff Over Potential China Trade Agreement

President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Canada on Saturday, threatening to impose a 100 percent tariff on all Canadian imports should the nation pursue a trade agreement with China. The declaration represents the latest escalation in the administration’s aggressive trade posture and marks a significant moment in North American relations.

The president directed his message at Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, stating unequivocally that any attempt to transform Canada into what he termed a “drop-off port” for Chinese goods destined for American markets would be met with immediate economic consequences. Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump warned that such an arrangement would prove devastating for America’s northern neighbor.

“China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life,” the president wrote, painting a dire picture of Chinese economic influence in North America.

This tariff threat follows a familiar pattern in the Trump administration’s diplomatic approach. The president has repeatedly employed the threat of tariffs as leverage in international negotiations, achieving mixed results. In recent days, Trump stepped back from threatened tariffs against several European nations as part of his ongoing efforts to secure American interests in Greenland, the semi-autonomous Danish territory that has captured the president’s strategic attention.

According to statements published Saturday, Trump claimed progress toward what he described as “the framework of a future deal” on Greenland, suggesting the United States would gain sovereignty over land containing American military installations. “We’ll have everything we want,” the president reportedly said, though details of any such arrangement remain unclear.

Concurrent with these tariff developments, the administration announced that American refineries have begun processing oil seized from Venezuelan tankers. The president was characteristically blunt in describing the operation. “Let’s put it this way – they don’t have any oil,” Trump stated. “We take the oil.”

The seized petroleum is being processed in multiple locations, including Houston, according to the president. Since the beginning of Trump’s month-long campaign to control Venezuelan oil flows, the United States military has seized seven Venezuela-linked tankers. On Tuesday, the administration reported taking 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil, with portions being sold on the open market.

The intercepted vessels either operated under United States sanctions or were identified as part of what officials describe as a “shadow fleet” of ships that disguise their origins to transport oil from sanctioned producers including Iran, Russia, and Venezuela.

The administration’s Latin American policy has centered significantly on Venezuela. Initial diplomatic efforts aimed at removing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power proved unsuccessful. The approach then shifted dramatically when Trump ordered United States forces to conduct an overnight raid on January 3rd, extracting Maduro and his wife from Venezuela and transporting them to New York to face criminal drug-related charges.

These developments underscore the administration’s willingness to employ both economic pressure and direct military action in pursuit of its foreign policy objectives. Whether these tactics prove sustainable or effective in the long term remains a matter of considerable debate among international observers and policy experts.

The Canadian government has not yet issued a formal response to the tariff threat, though the warning is certain to complicate already complex trade relationships within North America.