Trump threatens to "cut off trade relations" with the EU if it associates with Canada

WashingtonUS President Donald Trump has threatened to increase tariffs or even "cut trade relations" with the EU if it completes its project to associate with Canada. As is his custom, the tycoon made the serious claim casually and without providing further details, while answering journalists' questions on his way to a rally in North Carolina.

Trump considers that the offer from the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to Ottawa to become the first associate member of the EU could be "a hostile act." "If they do it, and I minimally consider it to be a hostile act, I will impose very severe tariffs or go as far as cutting trade with Europe in many areas. Therefore, if they do it, if Europe does it with bad intentions (if it is with good intentions, there is no problem), we will impose very high tariffs on Europe," Trump stated.

The conditionals that populate the warning are, at the very least, a wake-up call before the speech by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the European Parliament, which took place this Thursday. Since the end of August, Ottawa has decided to stand up to Washington and set a limit for Trump on his blackmailing dynamics. The trade agreement that both countries had been negotiating for weeks foundered after Carney walked away from the table, accusing Washington of wanting to "compromise the sovereignty" of his country. "If they attack you, you are at war," the Canadian leader said at the time.

Brussels has responded with its usual moderation and has limited itself to stressing that the proposal to strengthen the alliance with Canada "is not against anyone, but in favor of our joint strength." Words that were spoken on Wednesday by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during the State of the Union address and which was used again by the Canadian Prime Minister this Thursday from Strasbourg.

In a poignant speech to the nation, Carney announced at the end of the summer that he was embarking on a war of attrition with his neighbor, with a response proportional to the 50% tariffs with which the tycoon had threatened. The new levies on US goods are estimated at about 20 billion dollars annually, exactly the same value as those of the US on Canadian imports.

Carney's punch on the table raised some eyebrows among the other countries that are also suffering from Trump's trade war, including the Europeans. Amidst the deterioration of relations with Washington, Brussels sees in Ottawa a new possible ally with whom to join forces. Not only in commercial matters, but also in defense.

"The end of a beautiful story"

Canada has spent more than a year and a half hearing Trump refer to it as the 51st state of the United States, while Europe prays that the Republican forgets his obsession with annexing Greenland. The fear of a possible hostile action by US forces caused Denmark to send troops to the Arctic island to blow up landing strips if Trump decided to carry out his threat. The secret plan assumed that one NATO member considered it plausible that another ally would attack it.

The European Union has not made it so explicit, but it has reached the same conclusion that Carney verbalized in August: "The United States has changed". The statement was the reverse of another idea that the Canadian leader rushed to defend in Davos in January, in which he spoke of the "end of a beautiful story and the beginning of a brutal reality in which the geopolitics between the great powers is not subject to any limit". It was here that he argued that "other countries, particularly middle powers like Canada, are not powerless" and "have the capacity to build a new order that embodies their values, such as respect for human rights". Seven months later, Von der Leyen has replied in a delayed response and has extended her hand to Carney: "I would like to collaborate with you to pave the way for Canada to become the first associate member of the EU".