Trump threatens to "cut off trade relations" with the EU if it associates with Canada
The American president has warned that he could take "severe" measures if he considers that the partnership between Brussels and Ottawa is a "hostile act"
WashingtonUS President Donald Trump threatened this Wednesday to increase tariffs or, even, to "cut off trade relations" with the EU if it concludes its project to associate with Canada. As is customary, the tycoon dropped the serious statement casually and without giving 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 this, and I minimally consider it to be a hostile act, I will impose very severe tariffs or go so far as to cut off trade with Europe in many areas. Therefore, if they do this, 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," the leader stated.
The conditionals that populate the warning are, at the very least, a wake-up call so that this Thursday the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, does not get too puffed up 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 agreement that both countries had been negotiating for weeks foundered after Carney got up from the table accusing Washington of wanting to "compromise the country's sovereignty". "If you are attacked, you are at war," the Canadian leader then declared.
In a heartfelt speech to the nation, Carney announced 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 blow to the table raised some eyebrows among other countries that also suffer from the tycoon'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 listening to Trump constantly 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 just in case Trump kept his word. The secret plan assumed that one NATO member considered it plausible that another ally might attack it.
The European Union has not been 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 rushed to defend in Davos in January, where he spoke of the "end of a beautiful story and the beginning of a brutal reality in which geopolitics between the 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 that "they have the capacity to build a new order that embodies our values, such as respect for human rights". Seven months later, Von der Leyen has replied in a delayed manner 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".
