Trump threatens EU tariffs over proposal to grant Canada associate membership

Washington, United States. President Donald Trump has threatened action against the European Union if it proceeds with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal to make Canada the bloc’s first associate member.

Trump’s warning

Speaking to reporters while travelling to an event in North Carolina, Trump described the proposal as “laughable”.

“If they do that, if I think it’s at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things,” he said.

“If it’s a good intention, that’s fine. If it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe,” Trump added.

The European Commission did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

European response

France’s Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad said the United States had no authority to veto the EU’s geopolitical choices.

“It is not up to the United States — or anyone else — to choose the political and geopolitical direction of the Europeans,” he said in an interview with Public Senat TV channel on Thursday.

Canada proposal

Von der Leyen made the proposal on Wednesday during her annual State of the Union speech, attended by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. She sought to deepen ties among allies in what she described as “an openly hostile world”.

The EU faces the risk of war on its borders following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while the bloc and Canada have faced trade tensions with the United States and an increasingly assertive China.

Earlier this month, Carney said he was seeking a “unique alliance” with the EU as relations between Ottawa and Washington had deteriorated since Trump’s return to the White House, resulting in tariffs on tens of billions of dollars in cross-border trade.

The EU has historically resisted flexible alliances without legal status.