Trump threatens Canada's "Governor" Carney with 100% tariff over China
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President Trump and Canadian PM Mark Carney at the World Cup draw in December 2025. Photo: Dan Mullan / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
President Trump on Saturday reverted to a favored insult for Canadian leadership, calling Prime Minister Mark Carney "governor" and threatening a 100% tariff against the key U.S. trading partner.
Why it matters: After a period of warmer relations following Carney's election, the gloves have come off in the last week.
- Carney's Davos speech about a "rupture" in the world order was widely seen as a defining address of the World Economic Forum, laying bare the schism between the U.S. and its traditional allies.
- Trump had taken to calling former PM Justin Trudeau "governor" last year while publicly musing about Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state; he dropped that insult when Carney took office.
Driving the news: Canada and China, following years of tense relations, struck a new trade deal earlier this month, opening China to Canadian agriculture and Canada to Chinese electric vehicles.
- American officials were quick to criticize the deal, which the Canadians framed as a turn toward expanding trade partnerships amid fraying relations with the U.S.
- Carney's subsequent Davos speech kicked off a war of words between the two leaders, with Trump saying "Canada lives because of the United States" during his own remarks at the event.
What they're saying: "If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a 'Drop Off Port' for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken," Trump said in a Truth Social post Saturday.
- "China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life.
- "If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A.," Trump said.
- While he's challenged Canada for making the deal, Trump hasn't criticized China for its side of the pact.
By the numbers: Canada was the second-largest exporter to the U.S. in 2025, per Census data, at more than $300 billion, or more than 11% of all U.S. imports.
- The countries are also in the middle of the renegotiation process for the USMCA, the North American free trade deal struck during Trump's first term.
Reality check: Trump has frequently threatened higher tariffs against Canada over the last year, for a variety of reasons; most of those threats haven't come to pass.
The bottom line: There's a fresh chill in the relationship between the U.S. and its once-close neighbor.
