Trump menace l’UE de « tarifs douaniers très élevés » en réponse au projet du Canada comme membre associé
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attended Ursula von der Leyen's State of the EU address as a 'guest of honor' on Wednesday
SEP 17, 2026
(Photo credit: AFP-JIJI)US President Donald Trump proposed imposing tariffs and trade restrictions on the EU if he deems that Brussels’ plan to make Canada an “associate member” of the political and economic bloc is harmful to US interests.
“If they do that, if I think it’s at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things,” Trump stated on 16 September while speaking to reporters.
“If Europe does that with a bad intention – if it’s a good intention, that’s fine – if it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe,” he added.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said she wants to “open the door” to Canada becoming the first “associate member” of the EU.
Von der Leyen announced the proposal on Wednesday during her State of the EU address in Strasbourg, France.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attended the speech as the “guest of honor.”
Carney’s presence marked the first time a non-European national leader had been invited to attend the traditional State of the EU address.
In response to Trump’s comments, European Commission spokesman Olof Gill said the proposed EU-Canada partnership was “not against anyone else.”
“As our President made clear yesterday, the proposed strengthening of our partnership with Canada is not against anyone else, but for our common strength,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
The US and Canada are currently embroiled in a trade war. After trade talks collapsed last month, Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on more than $20 billion of goods imported from Canada. Carney retaliated by announcing “dollar for dollar” tariffs on US-made products.
On Wednesday, Trump escalated the dispute by announcing that the US government will not be allowed to purchase Canadian goods.
Since he was elected prime minister, Carney has sought to distance Canada from the US while expanding economic ties with both Europe and China.
A Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article published Saturday said the Canadian prime minister is planning a “major – and risky – pivot to Europe.”
Carney has been seeking to join the EU and its “$21 trillion single market” in some capacity since becoming prime minister in 2025, WSJ stated.
“For months, the Canadian prime minister had held private conversations with almost every major European leader … on how to more deeply plug Canada and its 41 million people into Europe’s 27-nation club,” the paper wrote.
Carney is reportedly seeking a deal that would allow Canadians to freely work in the EU, as well as the export of Canadian goods and services in the defense, energy, AI, and critical minerals sectors to the economies of the EU states.
Carney and European leaders have also discussed creating transatlantic subsea communications and energy corridors, establishing new satellite networks that do not involve major US tech firms, and shipping Canadian fertilizer through the newly developing Northwest Passage in the Arctic.
The Canadian premier said his plan calls for “the reorienting of an economy and a society that for half a century has been dominated by the US.”
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