By Kyla Guilfoil
President Donald Trump on Friday pledged to hold Canada responsible for costs associated with unhealthy air quality in the U.S. due to spreading smoke from the Canadian wildfires
“The cost is incalculable!” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social. “This is Willful Negligence, and becoming a yearly occurrence, costing the United States Billions of Dollars, which cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying.”
Trump has often used tariffs — which are paid by businesses and consumers — as a political cudgel in disputes with other countries
Trump said that he would call Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney “to find out what they are going to do about it.”
“We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein, and the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air, the quality of which is dangerous, and totally unacceptable!” Trump wrote
Carney on Thursday alluded to criticism of Canada’s response to the natural disaster, spotlighting the U.S.’s own opposition to climate policies
“Each of us has his own responsibility. At the moment, we’re emphasizing investment in clean energy, but in the U.S., there are modes of production which are working against clean energy,” he told reporters in French. “And Canada is pursuing their efforts on the world scale, whereas the United States are reducing their footprint worldwide.”
Since returning to office, Trump has suspended U.S. support for dozens of international climate initiatives and research groups. In March, a group of universities sued the Trump administration for its efforts to dismantle the country’s largest federal climate research center
Air quality alerts remain for more than 100 million people on Friday, as smoke from the wildfires in Minnesota and Canada continues to envelop major cities, including Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York City
The conditions have also led to concerns about Sunday’s World Cup final, which Trump plans to attend, in New Jersey, where poor air quality levels persist going into the weekend
The president has repeatedly touted the success of the tournament, even suggesting Friday at a FIFA reception that the U.S. should host the World Cup again. Trump also quipped that the next time the U.S. hosts the tournament, it should “leave Mexico and Canada out.”
Trump’s threats Friday to raise tariffs against Canada come after the administration announced on July 1 that it plans to drop out of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which has been seen as a key stabilizing force across North America for the last six years
