Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly on Thursday claimed that President Trump’s tariffs against Canada — the U.S.’s largest trading partner — are just a “pretext” for the administration’s wish to eventually annex the nation.
Trump’s 25 percent tariffs against Canada went into effect on Tuesday, with the president arguing that America’s northern neighbor has not done enough to prevent the movement of fentanyl across the U.S. border.
Joly disputed Trump’s assessment of her country’s border security, contending that less than 1 percent of the lethal drug comes from Canada, which she said has a “very strong and secure border.”
“We have $1.3 billion worth of investment in our new border plan,” Joly said during her Thursday appearance on CNN. “We’ve invested in more boots on the ground, Blackhawk helicopters, a new fentanyl strike force with the Americans. We also have a new fentanyl czar.”
“But clearly, this is not the issue right now. This is a pretext. This is not the right argument. Because fundamentally, the U.S. is a net exporter of illegal migrants, of illegal guns, and illegal drugs to Canada,” she told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.
Joly added, “So, what is at stake is more than that. President Trump wants to put us into a state where we are much more weakened economically in order eventually to annex us.”
Shortly after Trump’s tariffs were implemented, Canada fired back with its own 25 percent tariffs on $30 billion in goods.
Trump later paused tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods covered by the 2020 U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The halt is set to last until April 2.
An additional tax on Canada’s potash, a vital fertilizer ingredient, is also expected to be reduced to 10 percent, according to the administration.
“That includes autos, and the autos were the lead in getting this done, but also Canada and Mexico have done a good job offering us ever more work to prove to us they’re going to cut the fentanyl deaths,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.
Although, Lutnick added that once the pause lifts, reciprocal tariffs would go into effect.
“Hopefully Mexico and Canada will have done a good enough job on fentanyl that this part of the conversation will be off the table, and we’ll move just to the reciprocal tariff conversation,” he said.
Joly added that Canada can stop the U.S. from annexation, referring to Trump’s previous remarks indicating his desire for Washington’s northern neighbor to become America’s 51st state.
“Well, first, we can definitely stop them because Canadians are united,” she said Thursday. “They’re united to defend our country. They’re united to defend our jobs.”
“And as I was saying, also our way of life. We’re not Americans, we’re very proud of our country,” Joly continued. “And when you look back at our history, we created Canada at the time, and we were part of the British Empire because we didn’t want to be the United States.”
The foreign minister stated that “we’ve been shown too much disrespect by the Trump administration at this point, calling us a 51st state, calling our prime minister governor.”
Other Canadian officials have already pushed back on Trump’s international economic measures.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Michigan, New York and Minnesota will face 25 percent tariffs on electricity starting next Monday.
“And isn’t this a shame? It’s an absolute mess. He’s created chaos. He ran on a mandate. The lower cost, lower inflation, create more jobs. It’s the total opposite,” Ford said.
“You know, people are going to be losing their jobs in the U.S. and in Canada, and inflation is happening already,” he added.
