After Canada responded to Trump’s initial steel and electricity tariffs by levying a 25 percent tax on electricity to U.S. homes, Trump struck back. In a Truth Social post on Tuesday morning, the president announced that he would boost the steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 percent and threatened to place tariffs on automobiles imported from Canada. Trump also returned to an old standard, writing that the tariffs could disappear if Canada officially joined as America’s 51st state. The president appeared to echo his own words from early January when he told a reporter that he would use “economic force” rather than military force to annex Canada and make it the 51st state:
The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State. This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear. Canadians’ taxes will be very substantially reduced, they will be more secure, militarily and otherwise, than ever before, there would no longer be a Northern Border problem, and the greatest and most powerful nation in the World will be bigger, better and stronger than ever — And Canada will be a big part of that. The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear, and we will have the safest and most beautiful Nation anywhere in the World — And your brilliant anthem, “O Canada,” will continue to play, but now representing a GREAT and POWERFUL STATE within the greatest Nation that the World has ever seen!
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed Trump’s words during a briefing later that day. “The president has made it clear he believes Canadians would be better served economically, militarily if they were to become the 51st state of the United States of America,” she said.
Doug Ford, Ontario’s premier, has since walked back the proposed electricity tariff and announced plans to meet with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington. However, the Associated Press reported Wednesday that Canada intends to institute $20.6 billion worth of tariffs on steel, aluminum and other imported goods in retaliation for Trump’s metal tariffs.
Trudeau, the lame-duck Canadian prime minister, previously voiced concerns about this potential strategy. In February, the Toronto Star reported on a series of comments from Trudeau talking about his conversations with Trump that were captured on a hot mic. Per the outlet, Trudeau told a room full of Canadian business leaders at the Canada-U.S. Economic Summit that Trump’s words stem from a desire to obtain Canada’s critical minerals. “They’re very aware of our resources, of what we have, and they very much want to be able to benefit from those,” he said. “But Mr. Trump has it in mind that one of the easiest ways of doing that is absorbing our country, and it is a real thing.”
Just last week, Trudeau drew a connection between Trump’s previously announced 25 percent tariffs against Canada and his ongoing mantra about making Canada the 51st state. “What he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy because that’ll make it easier to annex us,” he told reporters at a press conference.
Mark Carney, the newly-elected Canadian prime minister who is set to be sworn in, has said that he is prepared to meet with Trump, but only under the right circumstances. “I am ready to sit down with President Trump at the appropriate time under a position where there is respect for Canadian sovereignty and we are working for a common approach, a much more comprehensive approach for trade,” he said.
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