President Donald Trump has issued an ultimatum to Canada and the European Union, warning that they will face “large scale tariffs” if they do economic harm to the United States.
Writing on Truth Social in the early hours of Thursday morning, he said: “If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large scale Tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had!”
It comes after Trump said on Wednesday that he plans to place 25 percent tariffs on auto imports from April 3. “This will continue to spur growth,” Trump said. “We’ll effectively be charging a 25 percent tariff.”
Foreign leaders were quick to criticize the tariffs, a sign that Trump could be intensifying a broader trade war.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney described the tariffs as a “very direct attack.” He added: “We will defend our workers. We will defend our companies. We will defend our country.”
Meanwhile, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, said: “Tariffs are taxes — bad for businesses, worse for consumers equally in the U.S. and the European Union.”
Canada and the E.U. already have a free trade deal called the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which they signed in 2017.
Canada is also reportedly in discussions with the E.U. to join a joint drive to break their security dependence on the U.S., according to The Associated Press, citing a senior Canadian government official.
The official said the plan would include buying more defense equipment in Europe and building fighter jets in Canada.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
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