Trump Announces 50% Tariffs on Canada After World Cup Meeting With Carney

Donald Trump escalated his trade fight with Canada on Monday, announcing a 50 percent tariff on most Canadian goods imported into the United States. The move landed as a surprise for Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who had met Trump the day before at the World Cup final, where the two leaders appeared friendly. Carney responded Monday night by saying the dispute has harmed people on both sides of the border and that his government is prepared to strengthen Canada while supporting its workers. According to a White House fact sheet, the tariffs will take effect in 30 days and apply to “products ranging from wine to hockey sticks to cement.” An administration official also said Trump had asked aides to examine additional tariffs tied to Canadian wildfires that worsened U.S. air quality, after the president complained they were “coming in and poisoning our air.” Trump has also accused Canada of unfairly targeting American autos, alcohol and dairy products.

The decision threatens to ignite fresh economic turmoil, raising fears of higher inflation and further damage to a relationship that had long been deeply integrated before Trump’s return to the White House. An administration official who briefed reporters on the action said Canada, along with China, was among the only countries to retaliate against Trump’s earlier tariffs and therefore needed to be held accountable. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity while previewing the president’s move, said Trump signed three proclamations imposing the tariffs under Section 338 of the 1930 Trade Act.

Several Democratic lawmakers sought last year to repeal that section, warning it could give Trump a tool to unsettle the economy. The new 50 percent tariffs would not apply to energy products, potash, fish or critical minerals, but they would cover goods previously shielded from import taxes under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, known as the USMCA. That 2020 trade deal recently expired, setting off a fresh round of negotiations that could stretch as far as 2036. “Canada believes in the benefits of free and fair trade, as evidenced by our new government signing more than 20 new economic and security partnerships,” Carney said in a statement.

“This trade dispute has raised costs for families, particularly in the U.S. Canada stands ready to engage intensively to address outstanding issues with the U.S. to the mutual benefit of our citizens,” Carney added. “In all circumstances, Canada will work relentlessly and take any measures necessary to build our strength at home and to support Canadian workers, farmers, businesses, and families.” Ontario Premier Doug Ford signaled that Canada may need to answer in kind. “If these tariffs proceed, Canada should respond tariff for tariff, dollar for dollar,” Ford wrote on social media. In recent days, Trump has also demanded that Canada and Carney pay “damages” after smoke from wildfires moved south into the United States.

Trump said Sunday night that he had spoken with Carney about wildfires in Ontario that have sent huge plumes of smoke over U.S. cities. The president described their conversation at the World Cup final as positive, but said he pressed the Canadian leader directly. “But I told him, ‘You’ve got to stop these fires from coming in and poisoning our air.’ Our air’s being poisoned. “I have a good relationship with Mark Carney, but you know, we got to stop the fires up there,” Trump said. “If we can help them, we’ll help them – but maybe they should pay us some damages or something, or [we] should do some tariffs,” he warned.

Trump called the smoke “terrible” and singled out Detroit, Michigan, where assembly line workers at Ford Motor’s Michigan Assembly Plant were taken by ambulance to nearby hospitals on Thursday, according to the Detroit Free Press. The poor air quality extended well beyond Michigan, with smoky skies reported Thursday evening in Washington, DC, and New York City. Trump himself likely encountered the conditions in the capital and while traveling to New York City for a work dinner on Friday night, as the National Weather Service issued air quality alerts across at least 16 states.

The president first floated tariffs against the United States’ northern neighbor on Friday. “We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their forests and brush,” he wrote on Truth Social. Trump said the U.S. was being “invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air, the quality of which is dangerous, and totally unacceptable.” He also pledged to call Carney for an explanation, claiming the “cost is incalculable.”

“This is willful negligence, and becoming a yearly occurrence, costing the United States billions of dollars, which cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the tariffs Canada is currently paying,” Trump said. On Sunday, Trump watched the World Cup final alongside Carney, who has publicly pushed back against the U.S. president and worked to broaden Canada’s trade ties with other countries. The Trump administration official said the leaders’ appearance together at the match was not a working session on trade or tariffs.

Trump claims in the proclamations that Canada discriminates against American autos, alcohol and cheese relative to other nations, but his argument rests in large part on retaliatory actions taken by Canada after the US president imposed tariffs on Canada under the pretext that it should do more to stop fentanyl smuggling. Trump noted in his autos proclamation that Canada maintained, starting in April 2025, a 25 percent tariff on the imports of US motor vehicles that did not qualify for preferential treatment under the USMCA. His proclamation on alcohol notes that Canadian provinces and territories halted the purchase and retailing of American alcoholic beverages last year, which was also a response to Trump’s tariffs and taunts of making Canada the 51st state. But Trump has long objected to Canada’s treatment of US cheese, saying in his proclamation that Canada discriminates against the US compared to Europe on dairy products. Trump and Carney have had a frosty relationship, with Carney, a former central banker, winning the premiership last year by promising to stand up for Canada. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January, Carney called out Trump — without naming him — by saying that the ‘most powerful’ countries are using the economy to coerce less powerful nations. Trump responded at the time by saying: ‘Canada lives because of the United States.’