After a phone call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss recently imposed tariffs, President Donald Trump said he told the Canadian leader there hasn’t been enough done to stem the flow of fentanyl.
Trump also accused Trudeau of using the tariff issue to “stay in power.”
Trump discussed his phone call with Trudeau in two posts made on his Truth Social platform on the afternoon of March 5.
“Justin Trudeau, of Canada, called me to ask what could be done about Tariffs,” Trump wrote. “I told him that many people have died from Fentanyl that came through the Borders of Canada and Mexico, and nothing has convinced me that it has stopped.”
Trump also wrote that the call ended in a “’somewhat' friendly manner,” while also accusing Trudeau of using the tariff issue to hold onto power in his final days in office.
“He was unable to tell me when the Canadian Election is taking place, which made me curious, like, what’s going on here? I then realized he is trying to use this issue to stay in power,” Trump said.
There was no immediate public reaction from Trudeau to Trump’s posts. The Epoch Times reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office for comment.
Trump’s social media posts came amid comments earlier that day from U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who said he would announce a change to the tariffs policy.
“He’s going to come up with a plan this afternoon, we’re going to announce that plan,” Lutnick told Bloomberg on March 5.
“There’s going to be 25 percent tariffs,” Lutnick clarified. “It’s not the ’middle' as in a number. I think it’s a middle in terms of USMCA [or] not USMCA,” suggesting items covered by the free trade deal between the countries would receive different tariff treatments.
Canada’s Response
Canada responded to the U.S. tariffs by announcing an initial CA$30 billion surtax on a variety of U.S. goods from orange juice to motorcycles. The plan is for an additional CA$125 billion of goods to be slapped with a 25 percent surtax three weeks later if U.S. tariffs remain in place.Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods and 10 percent on its energy imports on March 4, after a 30-day pause expired. The pause had been applied for the Trump administration to assess measures taken by Canada to strengthen border security and counter fentanyl trafficking.
In reaction to the U.S. tariffs on March 4, Trudeau said he doubts fentanyl is the issue, and instead suggested Trump is using them to cause the collapse of the Canadian economy to facilitate “annexation.”
Trudeau and his ministers have said that a very small amount of fentanyl from Canada crosses into the United States and that, nonetheless, the Canadian government has stepped up measures to combat the problem. Ottawa has also stressed that both countries’ economies are intricately linked and that consumers and businesses on both sides will lose in the trade war.
“They’ve chosen to launch a trade war that will, first and foremost, harm American families,” Trudeau said on March 4. “They’ve chosen to sabotage their own agenda that was supposed to usher in a new golden age for the United States and they’ve chosen to undermine the incredible work we’ve done together to tackle the scourge that is fentanyl, a drug that must be wiped from the face of the earth.”
Lutnick was asked by reporters on March 4 to respond to Trudeau’s comments about annexation made earlier that day. He noted in his response that the prime minister is in his last days in office.
“Justin Trudeau is running the end of his term and I don’t really want to think about the ridiculous things he said the last couple of days,” he said. “It’s sad, it’s time for him to go and let’s move on, have a new government in Canada.”
Along with the border and fentanyl-related tariffs, Canada is facing the threat of 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum, which Trump said would be levied against all countries on March 12.
A broader U.S. trade action is slated for April 2, with details about reciprocal tariffs expected to be announced. The Trump administration has already said it considers Canada’s federal sales tax (GST), its Digital Services Tax aimed at tech giants, and its supply management system for goods like poultry and dairy as trade barriers acting as tariffs against the United States.
Trump and Lutnick have also spoken about bringing car manufacturing back to the United States, which could have a significant impact for the Canadian auto industry, which is deeply integrated across the border.
