Trump threatens to cut trade with EU if Canada association proposal is ‘at all a hostile act’

Article content

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to cut trade with the European Union after the bloc proposed to make Canada its first ever associate member.

Article content

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen raised the prospect a day before Canada’s leader Mark Carney was due to address the European Parliament.

Article content

Article content

Her pitch comes as both Canada and the European Union seek to pivot away from an aggressive United States under Trump’s leadership.

Article content

Article content

“I think it’s laughable,” Trump told reporters when asked about the plan.

Article content

Article content

“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.”

Article content

He added: “If it’s a good intention, that’s fine. If it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe, which is a possibility.”

Article content

Von der Leyen pitched closer cooperation on tech, defence and energy to Carney, who became the first non-European head of government to attend the annual “State of the European Union” speech.

Article content

The German told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that, as democracies face a “fracture in the international rules-based system,” Brussels and Ottawa needed to pull closer together.

Article content

“I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU,” von der Leyen told the Canadian prime minister, drawing a standing ovation in the chamber.

Article content

Carney has been pursuing closer ties with the European Union as Canada gets drawn ever deeper into a trade war with the United States.

Article content

He is set to address the parliament on Thursday, with his visit meant to act as a catalyst ahead of an EU-Canada summit in Montreal next month.

Article content

Article content

Von der Leyen said it was time to move from cooperation based on trade to a broader “alliance for the future” and “bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible.”

Article content

Article content

“We will work on intelligent manufacturing. We will create a tech alliance. We will integrate defence industrial bases. We will make the Arctic a flagship joint project,” she said.

Article content

She listed energy, critical minerals, batteries, AI, cyber and economic security as other fields of cooperation.

Article content

“This is a partnership not against anyone else, but for our common strength,” she said.

Article content

But both the EU and Canada have been buffeted by tariffs and territorial threats from the U.S. and competition from China.

Article content

“In a more dangerous and divided world, Canada is forging stronger relationships with trusted partners,” Carney’s office said in a statement.

Article content

While EU treaties do not envision the possibility of becoming an “associate member,” the idea was first floated by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz this year for Ukraine.

Article content

Under that plan, which met a cold reception from a country pushing for full membership, Ukraine would have been allowed to attend the bloc’s summits and have a representative in the European Commission.