In a dramatic turn of events, US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a staggering 100% tariff on all Canadian imports if the North American country proceeds with a trade deal with China. This latest salvo in the ongoing trade war comes as the Trump administration also claims to have seized Venezuelan oil, declaring “we take the oil”.
The president’s fiery rhetoric was directed at Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, with Trump warning on social media that if Carney “thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken”. Trump went on to claim that “China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life”.
This tariff threat is the latest in a long line of Trump’s attempts to bend countries to his will through the use of punitive trade measures. Just days earlier, the president had walked back his threat to impose sweeping tariffs on several European countries in order to facilitate the US’s acquisition of Greenland, the semi-autonomous Danish Arctic island that has captured Trump’s attention.
In a separate interview, Trump boasted that the US will gain sovereignty and take ownership over land in Greenland where American bases are located, stating “We’ll have everything we want. We have some interesting talks going on.”
The president’s Latin American foreign policy has also been a point of focus, with his administration seizing seven Venezuela-linked tankers since the start of a month-long campaign to control the country’s oil flow. Trump claimed his administration has taken 50 million barrels of oil out of Venezuela and is selling some of it on the open market.
In a dramatic development, Trump even claimed that a new weapon he called “the discombobulator” played a central role in a raid that saw US forces fly into Venezuela to grab President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, bringing them to New York to face criminal drug-related charges.
As the US continues to flex its economic and military muscle on the global stage, the international community watches warily, uncertain of what other surprises may be in store from the unpredictable Trump administration.
