‘WE DON’T NEED CANADA’: Trump declares 50% tariffs on Canadian cars, steel as trade talks collapse

“Canada has been ripping off the United States of America for years. Their ridiculously high tariffs on our Farmers and farm products has made life impossible for these great American Patriots, and has long created a 60 Billion Dollar Deficit between our two Countries. Not sustainable, and NOT ANYMORE! On January First, 2027, Tariffs on all Cars, Trucks, both large and small, Automotive Parts, and Steel, will be increased to 50%. Build in the U.S. and there are ZERO TARIFFS. Canada will be treated like a State no longer! On Trade, and in other ways, also, they are among the worst Nations in the World to deal with. They feel entitled, and yet, WE DON’T NEED CANADA, THEY NEED US! They do 95% of their business with the U.S., with us, the exact opposite! Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

The latest round of 50 percent US tariffs on Canadian goods took effect early Saturday, August 22, following the collapse of trade talks between the two countries. Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada will respond to the 50 percent US tariffs that took effect over the weekend with a “dollar-for-dollar” retaliatory package beginning Sept. 8.

“Our response will be concentrated in sectors such as steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics. Also include products that are currently subject to unjustified section 232 and 338 tariffs,” Carney said in Ottawa on Aug. 22.

The measures apply to a range of Canadian products, including food, furniture, cosmetics and hockey equipment, and cover roughly 5 percent of Canada’s exports to the United States.

Trump’s announcement Monday marks a further escalation, with the president saying tariffs on all Canadian cars, trucks, automotive parts and steel will increase to 50 percent beginning January 1, 2027

Yesterday, when speaking before the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy criticized Canada for its record-high euthenasia rates, along with a claim that Canada does not have a military: “It's a country that doesn't have a military. It has a country that has a single-payer health care system that's failing. They have record high euthanasia rates.”

“To think that they're going to go to war with Donald Trump and actually win that war with the U.S., I think it's foolish on their part… Some of our best friends are the worst offenders that treat us the worst. And the fact that we provide their security for them and they take advantage of us, I think President Trump was the first one to go, you know what?”

“That's not the kind of relationship that friends should have. And so, the president's calling them out. I think you're going to see Mark Carney come to the table very, very quickly because it's going to be devastating for his country," he said.

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