TRUMP’S NEW BEEF

Spiteful Trump Issues Deranged Threat to Allies

If it moves, slap a tariff on it.

Donald Trump has threatened to hit the European Union with heavy tariffs if it moves closer to Canada, after the bloc’s leader said the North American country could become its first associate member.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney—Trump’s nemesis north of the border—has been calling for a “unique alliance” between Canada and the EU as relations deteriorate with the U.S.

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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen embraced the idea during her annual State of the European Union address on Wednesday, with Carney watching from the front row of the European Parliament.

“I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU,” von der Leyen said. She argued that, amid a “fracture in the international rules-based system,” Europe and Canada should strengthen their partnership.

“Above all, dear Mark, Europe and Canada believe in democracy,” she added. “We believe that power does not belong to the strongest, the richest, or the loudest, but to all of us. That democracies have the freedom to choose with whom to work.”

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The proposal would expand on the existing Canada-EU free trade agreement, known as CETA, through a broader “Alliance for the Future” focused on economic security and shared prosperity.

The partnership would cover advanced manufacturing, technology, defense production, the Arctic, energy, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity, von der Leyen added. It would also make it easier for Canadians to live and work in Europe.

Although von der Leyen never mentioned Trump by name, her proposal clearly unsettled the 80-year-old president.

Trump responded by suggesting the closer relationship could trigger retaliation from Washington.

“Canada’s been a terrible trade partner,” Trump told reporters in Charlotte, North Carolina. “If I think it’s at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things.”

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

Trump also described the prospect of Canadian associate membership as “laughable”.

The comments drew a rebuke from France’s Europe minister, Benjamin Haddad, who said Washington had no authority to determine the EU’s foreign policy.

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“It is not up to the United States, or ‌anyone else, to choose the political and geopolitical direction of the Europeans. Once again, we have a relationship ⁠with Canada, and we are fully entitled to seek to deepen it,” Haddad told the Public Sénat TV channel.

A European Commission spokesperson added: “As our president made clear yesterday, the proposed strengthening of the relationship with Canada is not against anyone else, but for our common strength.”

The dispute comes as relations between Washington and Ottawa deteriorate following Trump’s imposition of tariffs on imports from Canada and his repeated suggestions that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.

After trade talks collapsed in late August, Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on approximately $20 billion worth of Canadian products under a previously unused provision of the Tariff Act of 1930. Trump also invented a bogus new name for Lake Ontario—“Lake America.”

Carney responded by increasing counter-tariffs on American steel and aluminum and introducing new duties on other U.S. goods.

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