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 he completes his project to associate with Canada. As usual, the tycoon dropped the serious statement casually and without providing further details, while answering questions from reporters 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 consider it even remotely a hostile act, I will impose very severe tariffs or go as far as cutting off 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 call to attention so that this Thursday the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, does not get too carried away during the speech he is scheduled to give at the European Parliament. 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 deal the two countries had been negotiating for weeks collapsed after Carney walked away from the table, accusing Washington of wanting to "compromise the sovereignty" of his country. "If you are attacked, you are at war," the Canadian leader said at the time.

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

Carney's blow on the table raised some eyebrows among other countries that are also suffering from Trump's trade war, including the Europeans. Amid the deterioration of relations with Washington, Brussels sees in Ottawa a new possible ally to join forces with. 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 gets over his obsession with annexing Greenland. The fear of potential hostile action by U.S. forces led Denmark to send troops to the Arctic island to blow up landing strips if Trump decided to carry out his threat. This secret plan implied that one NATO member considered it plausible that another ally might attack it.

The European Union has not made it as 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 was quick 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 geopolitics between great powers is not subject to any limits". It was there 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 answered in delayed fashion and extended a 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".