By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-07-20 21:37:01 | Updated at 2026-08-09 06:56:04
2 weeks ago
Donald Trump revived his trade war with Canada, slapping a 50 percent tariff on America's neighbors to the north for most Canadian goods.
The President declared Monday that Canada has unfairly discriminated against American autos, alcohol and dairy products.
The move could unleash a new wave of economic chaos, with risks of higher inflation and further fraying of relations between two nations that had been closely woven together before Trump’s return to the White House.
The administration official previewing the action said that Canada was one of the only nations other than China that retaliated against Trump’s previous tariffs and must be held accountable.
The official insisted on anonymity on a call with reporters to preview the president’s actions and said that Trump signed three proclamations to launch the tariffs under Section 338 of the 1930 Trade Act.
Several Democratic lawmakers last year proposed repealing the section because they said Trump could use it to destabilize the economy.
The 50 percent tariffs would exclude energy products, potash, fish and critical minerals, but they would include goods that had previously been protected from import taxes by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA.
That 2020 trade pact recently expired and triggered a new set of negotiations that could run until 2036.
Donald Trump followed revived his trade war with Canada , slapping a 50 percent tariff on America's neighbors to the north for most Canadian goods. Pictured: Trump with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the World Cup final Sunday
The Daily Mail has reached out to both the White House and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for comment.
Recently, Trump has also been demanding Canada and Carney pay 'damages' after wildfires spread down into America.
Trump announced Sunday night that he had spoken with the prime minister about the wildfires in Ontario that have caused massive plumes of smoke to blanket cities across the States.
The President said the conversation at the World Cup final went well, '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 then threatened.
Trump went on to call the smoke 'terrible,' specifically pointing out the situation in Detroit, Michigan, where assembly line workers at Ford Motor's Michigan Assembly Plant were sent by ambulance to nearby hospitals on Thursday, according to the Detroit Free Press.
But the poor air quality was felt in other parts of the country as well, with smoky conditions being felt in Washington, DC and New York City on Thursday evening.
Trump himself likely experienced the smoky conditions in the capital and while traveling to New York City for a work dinner on Friday evening, as the National Weather Service issued air quality alerts in at least 16 states.
This is a developing story.
