President Donald Trump issued an overnight threat to place "far larger" tariffs on the European Union and Canada than planned if they work together to retaliate in response to his tariffs.
Trump made the threat in a Truth Social post early Thursday.
“If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large scale Tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had!,” Trump said in the post.
Trump has hinted at targeting the E.U. and Canada in his planned “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariffs rollout next week. And while he has separately threatened to ratchet up duties against both in recent weeks, he has yet to implement direct actions against at them.
On Wednesday, Trump announced tariffs would be imposed on all autos and auto parts not manufactured in the United States starting April 3. While the tariffs would affect both Canadian and E.U. firms, they were not specifically aimed at them.
The E.U. and Canada have yet to issue any formal statement about uniting to harm the U.S. But both have signaled that they could retaliate to the latest impositions.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that the E.U. “will continue to seek negotiated solutions, while safeguarding its economic interests.”
“Tariffs are taxes — bad for businesses, worse for consumers equally in the U.S. and the European Union,” she said in a statement.
New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, meanwhile, described Trump’s move as “a direct attack” and told reporters he would be convening a high-level Cabinet meeting Thursday to decide on a response.
“We will defend our workers, we will defend our companies, we will defend our country, and we will defend it together,” he said in Kitchener, Ontario, according to Reuters.
