WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump threatened Saturday to impose a 100 percent tariff on all goods imported from Canada if Ottawa follows through on a trade agreement with China. The Trump 100 percent tariff warning, posted on his Truth Social account, framed the Canada-China pact as a potential back door for Chinese-made products into the U.S. market, Jan. 24, 2026.
Trump said the duty would apply “immediately” if Canada made a deal with Beijing and suggested Canada could become a “Drop Off Port” for Chinese goods, a Reuters report said.
Trump 100 percent tariff threat puts Canada on notice
The Trump 100 percent tariff threat is a sharp turn from Trump’s comments a week earlier, when he told reporters the Canada-China talks were “a good thing” for Carney to pursue, Reuters reported. In Saturday’s posts, Trump referred to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as “Governor Carney.” It remained unclear when Trump might act, and the White House did not provide additional details, according to The Associated Press.
Carney urged Canadians to “be our own best customer” in a video message but did not directly answer the Trump 100 percent tariff threat. Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s minister responsible for trade with the United States, said the government was not pursuing a free-trade agreement with China and described the recent talks as a push to resolve specific tariff disputes.
What Canada actually agreed to with China
Carney traveled to Beijing this month to reset ties with Canada’s second-largest trading partner. Under the initial deal, Canada will allow a quota of up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles at a tariff of 6.1 percent and expects China to sharply reduce tariffs on Canadian canola seed and other farm and seafood products, a separate Reuters report said.
Canada and the U.S. are linked through the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which entered into force July 1, 2020, according to the U.S. Trade Representative’s USMCA overview. Reuters has described the pact as heading toward a review later this year, adding a time crunch to already tense negotiations.
Why a 100 percent tariff would sting
A Trump 100 percent tariff threat aimed at all Canadian imports would function as a duty equal to the value of many products at the border, a level that could upend supply chains built around just-in-time cross-border trade. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states and a major supplier of crude oil, electricity and critical minerals to the United States, AP reported.
Past tariff battles offer a warning sign
Trump has used tariffs as a negotiating weapon before. In 2018, his administration imposed steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and other allies, sparking retaliation and a trade fight, as detailed in a May 2018 Reuters dispatch.
Canada has also toggled its approach to China. Ottawa announced a 100 percent tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles in 2024, along with additional duties on Chinese steel and aluminum, before Carney’s government moved this month toward lower rates, according to a 2024 Reuters story.
For now, it remains unclear whether the Trump 100 percent tariff threat will become policy or serve as leverage in looming trade talks. But the warning has already raised the political and economic cost of Canada’s outreach to China — and put North America’s trading rules back in the spotlight.
