US President Donald Trump has warned the European Union that Washington could impose significant tariffs or restrict trade with the bloc if Brussels proceeds with a proposal to give Canada a new associate-member status.
Trump made the remarks on Wednesday, September 16, while speaking to reporters as he travelled to an event in North Carolina. He described the proposed arrangement between Canada and the EU as potentially a “hostile act” depending on the intentions behind it.
The dispute followed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal for Canada to become the European Union’s first associate member.
Von der Leyen made the proposal during her annual State of the European Union address in Strasbourg, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney present.
She said the EU wanted to take its relationship with Canada beyond existing trade cooperation and build closer links in areas including technology, defence, energy, artificial intelligence, critical minerals and economic security.
Von der Leyen described the proposed relationship as an “Alliance for the Future” and said Europe and Canada should strengthen cooperation at a time of growing pressure on the international rules-based system.
Asked about the proposal, Trump dismissed the idea and warned that the United States could respond if he regarded the arrangement as hostile.
He said Washington could impose “very serious tariffs” on Europe or stop trading with the bloc in some areas.
Trump also said the response would depend on whether he believed the European initiative had good or bad intentions.
The comments come amid continuing trade tensions between Washington, Ottawa and Brussels.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, meanwhile, used his address to the European Parliament on Thursday to advocate stronger relations between Canada and Europe.
Carney welcomed the proposed partnership and said Canada wanted deeper cooperation with European countries in areas including trade, defence, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, energy, research and financial services.
He stressed that Canada was seeking greater resilience and diversification rather than full EU membership.
Carney also argued that countries should be able to choose their international partners without having their sovereignty undermined.
The proposal does not mean Canada is joining the European Union.
The EU currently has no formal “associate membership” category in its treaties. The precise terms of any future arrangement would therefore have to be negotiated, and the proposal would face approval requirements within the bloc.
Canada already has a major trade relationship with the EU through the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), while the two sides have increasingly expanded cooperation beyond trade.
The proposed new framework would seek to deepen those links further.
The latest dispute is another sign of increasingly strained relations between the United States and Canada.
Carney’s government has been seeking to reduce Canada’s economic dependence on the United States while expanding relationships with Europe and other international partners.
Canada has also moved closer to European defence cooperation, including participation in the EU’s SAFE defence procurement programme.
The proposed EU-Canada arrangement and Trump’s response could therefore become another significant issue in the broader trade and diplomatic relationship between Washington, Ottawa and Brussels.