Donald Trump takes another swipe at Canada with alarming new threat

Bullish Donald Trump has today threatened a 35% tariff on Canadian goods starting next month.

The US President, 79, has deepened the rift between two North American countries, which has been a debilitating blow to their decades-old alliance. He has sent Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney a letter, also published on social media, with the vow to slap the tariff in just three weeks.

Mr Trump had initially imposed 25% tariff rates on the nation but tensions have grown since the world leader bizarrely suggested he wanted Canada to become the US' 51st state, odd remarks even allyNigel Farage condemned.

And in the letter, Mr Trump, who returned to power earlier this year, refers to "challenges" the US has with Mr Carney's nation. He wrote: "I must mention that the flow of Fentanyl is hardly the only challenge we have with Canada, which has many Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers."

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Mr Trump's blanket 25% tariff has hit Canada's steel, aluminium and motor industries particularly hard. Canada sells about three-quarters of its goods to the US, and is an auto manufacturing hub and a major supplier of metals.

While multiple countries have received tariff letters this week, Canada — America's second largest trading partner after Mexico — has become something of a foil to Mr Trump. It has imposed retaliatory tariffs on US goods and pushed back on the president's taunts of making Canada the 51st state. Mexico has also faced 25% tariffs because of fentanyl, yet it has not faced the same public pressure from Mr Trump.

Mr Carney was elected prime minister in April on the argument Canadians should keep their "elbows up." He has responded by distancing Canada from its intertwined relationship with the US, seeking to strengthen its links with the European Union and the United Kingdom.

Hours before Mr Trump's letter, Carney posted on X a picture of himself with Keir Starmer, saying: "In the face of global trade challenges, the world is turning to reliable economic partners like Canada.” Implied in his statement was that the US has become unreliable because of Trump's haphazard tariff regime, which has gone through aggressive threats and reversals.

Mr Trump has sent a series of tariff letters to 23 countries so far. Those form letters became increasingly personal with Canada as well as a Wednesday note that put a 50% tariff on Brazil for the ongoing trial of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, for trying to stay in office after his 2022 election loss. Mr Trump was similarly indicted for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.