Donald Trump Tells Canada To Become A State To Avoid His Tariffs

LOADINGERROR LOADING

President Donald Trump reportedly elicited gasps from the international crowd gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday when he suggested that Canada could become a U.S. state in order to avoid the sweeping tariffs he wants to impose.

In his first major speech as the 47th president, Trump reiterated many of his economic priorities and claims that the U.S. is treated “very unfairly” on trade by other nations. He spoke virtually from Washington, a live video feed splashed above the heads of panelists onstage in Switzerland.

Trump singled out Canada for a special warning: “As you probably know, I say, you can always become a state. And if you’re a state, we won’t have a deficit. We won’t have to tariff you.”

The BBC’s Faisal Islam said he heard “gasps in the Davos hall” at the casual remark.

“It’s not fair that we should have a $200 billion or $250 billion deficit,” Trump said, vastly overstating the actual trade deficit.

“We don’t need them to make our cars, and they make a lot of them,” Trump said, ignoring how vehicles’ lengthy assembly lines often span multiple countries from start to finish.

“We don’t need their lumber because we have our own forests, etcetera, etcetera. We don’t need their oil and gas. We have more than anybody,” Trump went on.

Trump has yet to act on his tariff threat. But he told reporters after his inauguration on Monday that they are still part of his plan, suggesting a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada could come down Feb. 1.

Go Ad-Free — And Protect The Free Press

The next four years will change America forever. But HuffPost won’t back down when it comes to providing free and impartial journalism.

For the first time, we’re offering an ad-free experience to qualifying contributors who support our fearless newsroom. We hope you’ll join us.

You’ve supported HuffPost before, and we’ll be honest — we could use your help again. We won’t back down from our mission of providing free, fair news during this critical moment. But we can’t do it without you.

For the first time, we’re offering an ad-free experience. to qualifying contributors who support our fearless journalism. We hope you’ll join us.

You’ve supported HuffPost before, and we’ll be honest — we could use your help again. We won’t back down from our mission of providing free, fair news during this critical moment. But we can’t do it without you.

For the first time, we’re offering an ad-free experience. to qualifying contributors who support our fearless journalism. We hope you’ll join us.

Support HuffPost

Economists agree that imposing tariffs on goods makes them more expensive for U.S. consumers.

Related Posts


This will close in 0 seconds