President Donald Trump has described Canada as “one of the worst countries in the entire world” as tensions between the two longtime allies continue to escalate over trade, ravenewsonline reports.
Speaking at the White House on Monday, Trump accused Canada of treating the United States unfairly and said Ottawa had imposed tariffs of up to 400% on some American agricultural products.
“They want to have a deal with us. They call us all the time,” Trump said, according to Mediaite. “The problem is, they have treated the United States very unfairly. They have been one of the worst countries in the entire world.”
Trump also accused Canada of taking advantage of the US and said Ottawa relied heavily on Washington for trade and defence support.
His comments come as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks to strengthen economic and strategic ties with Europe amid worsening relations with Washington.
Canada and the European Union are discussing deeper cooperation in areas including trade, defence, energy, artificial intelligence and critical minerals. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has also proposed making Canada the bloc’s first “associate member”.
Canada is not seeking full EU membership but is looking to diversify its economic and security partnerships.
The US and Canada remain engaged in a major trade dispute involving tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods.
Trump said he expects Canada to eventually seek an agreement with Washington.
“I think what’s going to happen is, over the next three or four weeks, they’re going to come to us and they’re going to say, ‘We need to get rid of all the tariffs,’” he said.
“We’re going to win everything,” Trump added, saying any eventual agreement must be “a fair deal.”
